title: In vivo tests of natural therapy, Tibetan yogurt or fresh broccoli, for Helicobacter pylori infection.
abstract: Plants and probiotics have a long history in the treatment of gastrointestinal ailments. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of Tibetan yogurt and fresh broccoli tips in Helicobacter pylori- (H. pylori) infected volunteers, using the urea breath test (UBT) to assess the effect on H. pylori. Clinical trials consisted of ingestion of approximately 135 g of fresh, finely minced juvenile broccoli tips (var. Emperor) in commercial plain yogurt t.i.d, for ten servings (3.3 days) or ingestion of freshly made Tibetan yogurt whey (120 ml) given twice a day for 3.5 days. Urea breath testing was done before and after the natural therapies. Five volunteers received broccoli tips and seven received Tibetan yogurt. No trend for a beneficial effect was seen; the UBT results (delta over baseline) before and after yogurt (35.5+/-12.8 vs. 40.7+/-12.2) (p=0.76) or broccoli (15.8 vs. 19.4) (p=1.0) were unchanged. Antimicrobial end products derived from Tibetan yogurt or broccoli tips have little or no anti-H. pylori effect in vivo. It appears that the gastric mucosal microenvironment apparently shielded H. pylori. In vitro studies suggesting anti-H. pylori activity of compounds should be considered as hypotheses to be tested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Michael E. DeBakey VAMC, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Opekun
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Opekun
authors.forename: D Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Graham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001937:Brassica / Q000737:chemistry; D001944:Breath Tests; D005260:Female; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000178:diet therapy*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019936:Probiotics; D014508:Urea / Q000378:metabolism; D015014:Yogurt / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D014508:Urea