University Hospitals Physician-scientist, Linda Cummings, Selected for American Gastroenterological Association Pilot Research Award

CLEVELAND – The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has awarded University Hospitals (UH) Cleveland Medical Center physician–scientist Linda C. Cummings, MD, MS, an AGA Pilot Research Award to continue her study of the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance in eradicating H. pylori, a bacterial infection that increases the risk of gastric cancer and peptic ulcer disease. 

“H. pylori is a leading cause of peptic ulcers, gastritis and stomach cancer,” says Dr. Cummings, a gastroenterologist at UH Cleveland Medical Center, Associate Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and member of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Unfortunately, H. pylori is difficult to treat and can require a regimen of up to four medications. As the bacterium is becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics, researchers have discovered several genetic mutations associated with poor eradication outcomes.”

Due to increasing antibiotic resistance, starting patients on empiric treatment for H. pylori can expose them to ineffective antibiotics, increase costs, and lead to further resistance.

The research project funded by the $30,000 award focuses on an assay previously developed at UH using gastric biopsies positive for H. pylori to identify mutations associated with resistance to clarithromycin, levofloxacin, and tetracycline. Some mutations in the 23S rRNA are commonly understood to be associated with resistance to clarithromycin, but other mutations have been inconsistently linked to clarithromycin resistance. The grant will allow researchers to look at these other less well understood 23S rRNA mutations in more detail, and also to look at the combined impact of 23S rRNA mutations and mutations associated with resistance to levofloxacin and tetracycline on the ability to eradicate H. pylori. 

The research team includes Drs. Navid Sadri, Leila S. Hojat, Eric M. Ransom, Lisa M. Stempak, and Daniel D. Rhoads.  The team had a publication in the American Journal of Gastroenterology last year regarding the impact of UH’s routine use of this assay, along with treatment recommendations on eradication success.