Eating iron contributes to Helicobacter pylori infection?
Lactoferrin binds up iron.
The human body produces it.
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Lactoferrin and Probiotics Improve Results of Helicobacter pylori
Release Date: May 25, 2007; Reviewed and Renewed: May 23, 2008;

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/557253

May 25, 2007 — Standard treatment with two antibiotics and a proton
pump inhibitor fails to eradicate Helicobacter pylori in about 25% of
patients treated for gastritis or peptic ulcer disease. Investigators
in Italy now report that supplementation with bovine lactoferrin and
probiotic bacteria can boost cure rates and reduce side effects.

Lead investigator Dr. Nicola de Bortoli at the University of Pisa and
colleagues attribute treatment failure to bacterial resistance and
side effects that hinder patient compliance. Other investigators have
considered the addition of a third antibiotic to the regimen to
increase treatment efficacy.

In contrast, Dr. de Bortoli's team suggests adjuvant therapy as an
alternative approach. Lactoferrin is a glycoprotein found in bodily
secretions involved in immune defense, the researchers explain in the
American Journal of Gastroenterology for May. Evidence suggests it
harbors bactericidal efficacy against H. pylori.

Probiotics have had a therapeutic influence in other gastroenteric
illnesses, including inflammatory bowel disease and viral infections.
The probiotic capsule (Probinul, Cadigroup) was selected because of
its high concentrations of multiple lactic-acid producing bacteria —
Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacterium spp, and Streptococcus
thermophilus.

In an open-label, prospective trial, the physicians randomized 206
patients with H. pylori infection to standard therapy for 7 days
(esomeprazole, clarithromycin, and amoxicillin) or standard therapy
plus bovine lactoferrin and the probiotic.

The patients were instructed to take the proton pump inhibitor 30
minutes before breakfast and dinner, the antibiotics and bovine
lactoferrins 30 minutes after the two meals, and the probiotic
supplement 1 hour after breakfast and dinner.

Eight weeks after the regimens were completed, the subjects were
tested for H. pylori eradication using the C-13 urea breath test.

In the intent-to-treat analysis, 72.5% of the controls and 88.6% of
the adjuvant therapy group tested negative for H. pylori (p = 0.005).
In the per-protocol analysis, the corresponding rates were 76% and
92.1% (p = 0.004).

Compared with the adjunct therapy group, significantly more control
patients reported episodes of nausea, diarrhea, a metallic taste in
the mouth, glossitis, and abdominal pain.

Dr. de Bortoli and associates theorize that combining lactoferrin and
probiotics with the standard therapy "provokes a synergist effect by
launching attacks from different directions against H. pylori that
could lead to a complete clearance of the bacterial infection."

Am J Gastroenterol. 2007;102:951-956.

Reuters Health Information 2007. © 2007 Reuters Ltd.

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