Home / Nieuws / ...

Lactoferrine en minder zout tegen Helicobacter pylori bacterie.*

Helicobacter pylori is de enige bacterie die kan overleven in de maag. Infecties van deze bacterie kunnen leiden tot maagzweren en maagkanker. Uit een studie blijkt nu dat het ontstaan van de bacterie en de kans op serieuze aandoeningen hierdoor, bevorderd wordt door voeding met veel zout. Een andere studie gaat over de bestrijding van de bacterie. Bij de nu gebruikte therapieën (een combinatie van antibiotica) is de behandeling maar in 75% van de gevallen succesvol. Uit een Italiaanse studie nu blijkt dat de melkproteïne lactoferrine het succespercentage van de bestaande therapie kan verhogen tot ruim 92%. Aanvulling met lactoferrine geeft ook nog het voordeel dat de bijwerkingen van de antibioticakuur een stuk minder werden.

- Bovine protein called lactoferrin aids in treatment of gastrointestinal disorder

Recent evidence suggests that therapy currently used to treat Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, a major cause of upper gastrointestinal disorders, is unsuccessful in around 25 percent of cases.

A new study, published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, finds that adding a bovine protein called lactoferrin to the existing treatment may yield more effective results, with fewer of the side effects associated with common antibiotic treatment.

Lactoferrin has previously been found to be effective at inhibiting the growth of microorganisms and reducing the side effects of antibiotics, respectively, but the new study marks the first time that they have been used together to treat H. pylori. The study found that the infection-causing bacterium was eliminated in more patients treated with the traditional therapy plus lactoferrin than with the existing treatments and may be used without risk of resistance.

"Various studies are under way to evaluate new antibiotics and different therapeutic methods to increase the efficacy of H. pylori therapy," says lead author Nicola de Bortoli, M.D., Ph.D., adding that data suggest that antibiotic resistance is frequent and clinicians are realizing that use of an additional agent may be necessary for therapy."

Helicobacter pylori Eradication: A Randomized Prospective Study of Triple Therapy Versus Triple Therapy Plus Lactoferrin and Probiotics

Nicola de Bortoli, Ph.D. , Giulia Leonardi, M.D. , Eugenio Ciancia, M.D. , Andrea Merlo, M.D., Massimo Bellini, Ph.D. , Francesco Costa, Ph.D. , Maria Gloria Mumolo, Ph.D. , Angelo Ricchiuti, M.D. , Fabrizio Cristiani, Technician , Stefano Santi, M.D. , Mauro Rossi, M.D. , and Santino Marchi, M.D. 

Affiliations
³ Pathological Anatomy Unit II, Department of Oncology, Transplantation and New Technology in Medicine, A.U.O. Pisa, Pisa, Italy
² Surgery Unit IV, Department of Medical and Surgical Gastroenterology, A.U.O. Pisa, Pisa, Italy
¹ Gastroenterology Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Gastroenterology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

OBJECTIVES: Helicobacter pylori is causally associated with gastritis and peptic ulcer diseases. Recent data (meta-analysis) have demonstrated that triple therapy with amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and a proton pump inhibitor has an eradication rate of only 74–76% and new therapeutic protocols may be necessary. The aim of this study was to examine whether adding bovine lactoferrin (bLf) and probiotics (Pbs) to the standard triple therapy for H. pylori infection could improve the eradication rate and reduce side effects.

METHODS: H. pylori infection was diagnosed in 206 patients: in 107 based on an upper endoscopy exam and a rapid urease test, and in 99 by means of the H. pylori stool antigen-test and the C¹³ urea breath test (C¹³ UBT). The patients were randomized into two groups: 101 patients (group A) underwent standard triple eradication therapy (esomeprazole, clarithromycin, amoxicillin), while 105 patients (group B) underwent a modified eradication therapy (standard triple eradication therapy plus bLf and Pb). Successful eradication therapy was defined as a negative C¹³ UBT 8 wk after completion of the treatment. Results were evaluated by intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analysis. Data were evaluated and considered positive when P < 0.05.

RESULTS: At the end of the study 175/206 patients showed negative C¹³ UBT results. According to intention-to-treat analysis, the infection was eradicated in 73/101 patients from Group A and in 93/105 from Group B. PP analysis showed 73/96 patients from Group A and 93/101 from Group B to have been successfully treated. More patients from group A than from group B reported side effects from their treatment (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study suggest that the addition of bLf and Pbs could improve the standard eradication therapy for H. pylori infection—bLf serving to increase the eradication rate and Pbs to reduce the side effects of antibiotic therapy.

(Am J Gastroenterol 2007;102:951–956) 

- High salt intake increases gene activity in the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori

Scientists have identified yet another risk from a high-salt diet. High concentrations of salt in the stomach appear to induce gene activity in the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori, making it more virulent and increasing the likelihood of an infected person developing a severe gastric disease.

"Apparently the stomach pathogen H. pylori closely monitors the diets of those people whom it infects. Epidemiological evidence has long implied that there is a connection between H. pylori and the composition of the human diet. This is especially true for diets rich in salt," says Hanan Gancz, of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, who presents the research at the 107th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Toronto.

H. pylori is a spiral-shaped bacterium that can live in the acidic environment of the stomach and duodenum which is the section of intestine below the stomach. It is the most common cause of ulcers of the stomach and duodenum, accounting for up to 90% of duodenal ulcers and up to 80% of gastric ulcers. Infection with H. pylori also causes gastritis, and infected persons also have a 2- to 6-fold increased risk of developing mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma, and gastric cancer compared with uninfected counterparts.

H. pylori infection is common in the United States and is most often found in persons from lower income groups and older adults. About 20% of persons less than 40 years of age and about 50% of persons over 60 years of age are infected. Most infected people do not have symptoms and only a small percentage go on to develop disease.

Previous research has focused on the affects diet has on the stomach environment where H. pylori resides, but until now scientists have overlooked the response of the microorganism specifically to these dietary queues. Working from the epidemiological evidence that H. pylori infection combined with a high-salt diet results in an increased incidence of severe gastric maladies, Gancz and colleagues decided to look at the direct effect a high concentration of salt had on both the growth and gene expression of the bacterium.

"We noted that H. pylori growth rate shows a sharp decline at high salt concentrations. Moreover, bacterial cells exposed to increased salt exhibited striking morphological changes: cells became elongated and formed long chains," says Gancz. "We conclude that H. pylori exposed to high levels of salt in vitro exhibit a defect in cell division."

They also discovered transciption of two genes responsible for the virulence of the bacterium was increased during high-salt conditions.

"The altered expression patterns of some virulence genes may partially explain the increased disease risk that is associated with a high salt diet in H. pylori infected individuals," says Gancz.

  (Juni 2007)  (Opm. Lactoferrine bevindt zich in rauwe koeienmelk, moedermelk en goede weiproteïnes, zoals ImmunoPro).