Sequential eradication of Helicobacter pylori as a treatment for immune thrombocytopenia in patients with moderate thrombocytopenia: a multicenter prospective randomized phase 3 study

Due to several issues, standard treatments are not recommended for asymptomatic patients with moderate immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Since platelet responses are reported in some patients with Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori )-positive ITP after eradication, we conducted a multicenter, phase 3 study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of recently established sequential eradication for these patients having moderate thrombocytopenia. Persistent or chronic ITP patients with platelet count (30 × 10 3 ~ 80 × 10 3 /μL) and confirmed active H. pylori infection were randomly assigned to a treatment and a control group. The former received 10-day sequential treatment. Eradication was assessed by urea breath test at 3 months after treatment. Primary endpoint was the overall platelet response rate at 3 months in successfully eradicated treatment group and control group. Secondary endpoints were platelet response time, H. pylori eradication success rate, etc. The patient enrollment terminated early because of the change of national insurance and treatment guideline for H. pylori -positive patients in Korea during the study. Of the 28 H. pylori -positive ITP patients, 17 were randomized to the treatment group, and eradication was achieved for 15 (88.2%) at 3 months, and seven in control group after withdrawal. Statistically, significant difference in platelet response rates between the two groups were observed ( p = 0.017). Our study verifies that H. pylori eradication was an effective ITP treatment for patients with H. pylori -associated moderate ITP. This sequential eradication regimen showed not only a high H. pylori eradication rate, but also a remarkable platelet response for ITP patients. Trial registration number and date of registration for these prospectively registered trials is ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03177629 and June 6, 2017.