Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 14, 2015; 21(14): 4178-4183
Published online Apr 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i14.4178
Anti-Helicobacter pylori activities of Chenopodium ambrosioides L. in vitro and in vivo
Hui Ye, Yu Liu, Ning Li, Jing Yu, Hong Cheng, Jiang Li, Xue-Zhi Zhang
Hui Ye, Ning Li, Jing Yu, Xue-Zhi Zhang, Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China
Yu Liu, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Peking University International Hospital, Beijing 102206, China
Hong Cheng, Jiang Li, Department of Gastroenterology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China
Author contributions: Ye H and Liu Y contributed equally to this work; Ye H performed the in vivo experiments, analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Liu Y conducted in vitro experiments and data analysis; Li N and Yu J participated in animal feeding and in vivo sample collection; Cheng H and Li J directed the histologic observations; Zhang XZ reviewed and approved the article for publication; all of the authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation Project of China, No. 81072952.
Ethics approval: The study was reviewed and approved by the Peking University First Hospital Institutional Review Board.
Institutional animal care and use committee: All procedures involving animals were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Peking University First Hospital (IACUC protocol number: J201150).
Conflict-of-interest: We declare that we have no competing financial or personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work.
Data sharing: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at zhang.xuezhi@263.net. Participants gave informed consent for data sharing.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Xue-Zhi Zhang, Professor, Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese Medicine, Peking University First Hospital, 8th Xishiku Street, Xicheng District, Beijing 100034, China. zhang.xuezhi@263.net
Telephone: +86-10-83572634 Fax: +86-10-83572931
Received: October 30, 2014
Peer-review started: October 31, 2014
First decision: November 14, 2014
Revised: December 9, 2014
Accepted: January 16, 2015
Article in press: January 16, 2015
Published online: April 14, 2015
Processing time: 166 Days and 19.3 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the bactericidal effects of Chenopodium ambrosioides L. (CAL) against Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) both in vitro and in vivo.

METHODS: For in vitro experiments, the inhibitory activity of CAL was tested using an agar dilution method; H. pylori strain NCTC11637 was incubated on Columbia blood agar plates containing serial concentrations of CAL. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by the absence of H. pylori colonies on the agar plate. Time-kill curves were used to evaluate bactericidal activity; the average number of colonies was calculated at 0, 2, 8 and 24 h after liquid incubation with concentrations of CAL at 0.5, 1, and 2 × MIC. For in vivo experiments, H. pylori-infected mice were randomly divided into CAL, triple therapy (lansoprazole, metronidazole, and clarithromycin), blank control, or H. pylori control groups. The eradication ratios were determined by positive findings from rapid urease tests (RUTs) and by histopathology.

RESULTS: In vitro, the MIC of CAL against H. pylori was 16 mg/L. The time-kill curves showed a stable and persistent decreasing tendency with increasing CAL concentration, and the intensity of the bactericidal effect was proportional to dose; the 1 and 2 × MIC completely inhibited the growth of H. pylori at 24 h. In vivo, the eradication ratios in the CAL group were 60% (6/10) by RUT and 50% (5/10) by histopathology. Ratios in the triple therapy group were both 70% (7/10), and there was no difference between the CAL and triple therapy groups. Histopathologic evaluation revealed massive bacterial colonization on the surface of gastric mucosa and slight infiltration of mononuclear cells after inoculation with H. pylori, but no obvious inflammation or other pathologic changes in gastric mucosa of mice from CAL and triple therapy groups.

CONCLUSION: CAL demonstrates effective bactericidal activity against H. pylori both in vitro and in vivo.

Keywords: Helicobacter pylori; Bactericidal activity; Chenopodium ambrosioides L.; Phytotherapy

Core tip: The Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication rate of triple therapy has been markedly decreased due to increasing bacterial antibiotic resistance. Natural Chinese medicines, such as Chenopodium ambrosioides L. (a Chinese herb derived from Jinhua Weikang Capsule utilized for gastritis and peptic ulcers), represent complementary and collaborative therapies. This report demonstrates that C. ambrosioides has in vitro and in vivo bactericidal effects against H. pylori, and may be a good candidate for the treatment of H. pylori infection.