Tag Archives: Helicobacter

Bacteria that may treat ulcers

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Spanish scientists have identified a strain of probiotic bacteria that may be useful in treating ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori.

“H. pylori is considered one of the major risk factors underlying the development of gastritis and gastric and duodenal ulcers,” according to the researchers.

“Currently, antibiotic-based treatment for H. pylori infection is neither sufficient nor satisfactory, with the most successful treatments reaching 75 to 90pc eradication rates. The use of probiotics is a potentially promising tool to prevent H. pylori,” the researchers said.

According to an expert consultation conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization probiotics are “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit to the host.”

The regular intake of probiotic microoganisms has been demonstrated to prevent several disorders including diarrhea and inflammatory bowel disease.

Among probiotics Bifidobacterium is one of the favorite genera in studies focused on the prevention of gastrointestinal infection and is often used in fermented dairy products or food supplements.

Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori

Some studies have been done in vitro (in test tubes or petri dishes) showing bifidobacterial activity against H. pylori.

In this study, the researchers tested numerous strains of bifidobacteria isolated from the feces of breast-fed infants for activity against H. pylori.

They identified one strain (Bifidobacterium bifidum CECT 7366) that under certain conditions had an inhibition level of nearly 95 percent in vitro and tested its activity against infection in mice.


After 21 days, mice treated with the potentially probiotic strain developed significantly less ulcers than the control group.

Additional tests suggest that treatment partially relieved damage to gastric tissue caused by H. pylori infection. Ingestion of the bacteria did not induce any disease or mortality in both healthy and immunocompromised mice.

The findings appeared in the February 2011 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Broccoli sprouts suppress growth of Helicobacter pylori

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A daily dose of three-day-old broccoli sprouts supresses the growth of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections, according to a new report published in Cancer Prevention Research. H. pylori infections are one of the most common bacterial infections worldwide and are a major cause of stomach cancer, as well as stomach ulcers.

Broccoli sprouts contain much higher concentrations of the antioxidant sulphoraphane, than the fully grown vegetable. Previous studies done in animals have found sulphurophane supresses the growth of H.pylori, but this study is the first to demonstrate this in people.

In this small study, scientists recruited 48 Japanese men and women infected with H.pylori, and gave them either 70 grams of fresh broccoli sprouts or an equivalent amount of alfalfa sprouts to eat daily for eight weeks. Alfalfa sprouts do not contain sulphurophane.

Broccoli

Broccoli

Researchers assessed the severity of H.pylori infection at the beginning of the study and at four and eight weeks using standard breath, stool and blood tests.


The researchers found that H.pylori levels were significantly lower by the end of the study, compared to the start in the group of people who had eaten the broccoli sprouts. No change in H.pylori was detectd in the group given alfalfa sprouts to eat. However the broccoli sprouts did not eradicate the bacteria. Once people stopped eating the broccoli sprouts, H.pylori levels returned to the levels found at the start of the study.

Lead researcher Jed Fahey from the John Hopkins School of Medicine commented:

“Broccoli has recently entered the public awareness as a preventive dietary agent. This study supports the emerging evidence that broccoli sprouts may be able to prevent cancer in humans, not just in lab animals.”