*Review Helicobacter pylori* **Antibiotic Resistance: Molecular Basis and Diagnostic Methods**

**Irina Medakina 1, Larisa Tsapkova 1,\*, Vera Polyakova 1, Sergey Nikolaev 1, Tatyana Yanova 1, Natalia Dekhnich 2, Igor Khatkov 1,3, Dmitry Bordin 1,3,4 and Natalia Bodunova <sup>1</sup>**


**Abstract:** *Helicobacter pylori* is one of the most common cause of human infections. Infected patients develop chronic active gastritis in all cases, which can lead to peptic ulcer, atrophic gastritis, gastric cancer and gastric MALT-lymphoma. The prevalence of *H. pylori* infection in the population has regional characteristics and can reach 80%. Constantly increasing antibiotic resistance of *H. pylori* is a major cause of treatment failure and a major problem. According to the VI Maastricht Consensus, two main strategies for choosing eradication therapy are recommended: individualized based on evaluating sensitivity to antibacterial drugs (phenotypic or molecular genetic method) prior to their appointment, and empirical, which takes into account data on local *H. pylori* resistance to clarithromycin and monitoring effectiveness schemes in the region. Therefore, the determination of *H. pylori* resistance to antibiotics, especially clarithromycin, prior to choosing therapeutic strategy is extremely important for the implementation of these treatment regimens.

**Keywords:** *Helicobacter pylori*; antibiotic resistance; methods for determining *H. pylori* resistance; molecular genetic diagnostics; phenotypic methods for determining antibiotic resistance; geographical distribution of *H. pylori* antibiotic resistance
