Exploring alternative treatments for Helicobacter pylori infection

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a successful pathogen that can persist in the stomach of an infected person for their entire life. It provokes chronic gastric inflammation that leads to the development of serious gastric diseases such as peptic ulcers, gastric cancer and Mucosa associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. It is known that these ailments can be avoided if the infection by the bacteria can be prevented or eradicated. Currently, numerous antibiotic-based therapies are available. However, these therapies have several inherent problems, including the appearance of resistance to the antibiotics used and associated adverse effects, the risk of re-infection and the high cost of antibiotic therapy. The delay in developing a vaccine to prevent or eradicate the infection has furthered research into new therapeutic approaches. This review summarises the most relevant recent studies on vaccine development and new treatments using natural resources such as plants, probiotics and nutraceuticals. In addition, novel alternatives based on microorganisms, peptides, polysaccharides, and intragastric violet light irradiation are presented. Alternative therapies have not been effective in eradicating the bacteria but have been shown to maintain low bacterial levels. Nevertheless, some of them are useful in preventing the adverse effects of antibiotics, modulating the immune response, gastroprotection, and the general promotion of health. Therefore, those agents can be used as adjuvants of allopathic anti-H. pylori eradication therapy.

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori; Natural products; Nutraceuticals; Probiotics; Treatment.

Figure 1

Alternative approaches to the current allopathic therapy against Helicobacter pylori. Different preventive, healing and adjuvant strategies proposed for anti-Helicobacter pylori therapy are shown.

Figure 2

Mechanism used in the alternative strategies described here for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori. Three levels are considered as targets for the different alternative treatments. The first involves the host, where vaccines and immune response modulators could act. The second is the stomach, where many mechanisms could have different types of action to restore homeostasis (i.e., gastroprotection, anti-inflammatory). Finally, Helicobacter pylori is the central target; in this case, alternative treatments are intended to eradicate or prevent the infection, acting upon growth or colonisation factors. In the case of growth inhibitors, many bacterial targets could be used as key enzymes and pathways.