Treatment failure of norfloxacin against Campylobacter pylori and chronic gastritis in patients with nonulcerative dyspepsia.

Several reports have been published to show the in vitro susceptibility of Campylobacter pylori to different classes of antibiotics, including fluoroquinolones. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical effect of norfloxacin on eradication of C. pylori in patients with gastritis. Endoscopy was performed in 38 patients with symptoms of nonulcerative dyspepsia. Of these, 20 patients had a C. pylori-positive culture. From this group, 17 patients were treated with norfloxacin for 1 month. After therapy, 15 patients still had positive cultures, and in 9 cases the strain was resistant to norfloxacin. These data, which confirm previous studies, support the concept that the in vitro activity of norfloxacin against C. pylori cannot be transposed to an in vivo effect.