Gastric microbes associated with gastric inflammation, atrophy and intestinal metaplasia 1 year after Helicobacter pylori eradication

Objective Helicobacter pylori is associated with gastric inflammation, precancerous gastric atrophy (GA) and intestinal metaplasia (IM). We aimed to identify microbes that are associated with progressive inflammation, GA and IM 1 year after H. pylori eradication.DesignA total of 587 H. pylori–positive patients were randomised to receive H. pylori eradication therapy (295 patients) or placebo (292 patients). Bacterial taxonomy was analysed on 404 gastric biopsy samples comprising 102 pairs before and after 1 year H. pylori eradication and 100 pairs before and after 1 year placebo by 16S rRNA sequencing.ResultsAnalysis of microbial sequences confirmed the eradication of H. pylori in treated group after 1 year. Principal component analysis revealed distinct microbial clusters reflected by increase in bacterial diversity (p