Abstract
Helicobacter pylori
is recognized as a major cause of gastritis, peptic ulcer, gastric cancer, and mucosa-associated lymphoma. Infection with this gram-negative microaerophile has been treated using combination of antibiotics and proton pump inhibitors for different gastrointestinal diseases. The most commonly used treatment is triple therapy which consists of administration of a proton pump inhibitor, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin. Many factors contribute to treatment failure, but one of the main reasons is development of bacterial antibiotic resistance. The percent prevalence of antibiotic resistance varies among different countries; it appears to be partly determined by the geographic factors and its ability to undergo frequent homologous recombination. The aim of this paper is to review the prevalence of
H. pylori
infection, association of clinical outcomes with
H. pylori
genotypes, and current status of antibiotic resistance in
H. pylori
in Saudi Arabia. It also discusses the different alternative approaches for the treatment of
H. pylori
using antibiotics. In addition, association of antibiotic resistance with
H. pylori
virulent genotypes in Saudi population and its underlying resistance mechanism will also be discussed.