Essential oils, herbal extracts and propolis for alleviating Helicobacter pylori infections: A critical view

Helicobacter pylori is classified as Class I human carcinogen, is known for gastric, peptic duodenal ulcers and other gastrointestinal tract disorders. The treatment against H. pylori involving triple therapy with the use of a proton pump inhibitor and the combination of two different antibiotics. This approach has not been suc-cessful, but has led to some emerging therapies (e.g. second eradication, quadruple, sequential), which are also not very effective against H. pylori as this bacterium has multidrug resistance. This situation warrants discovering alternative therapeutic strategies against H. pylori by using natural products with low or no side effects. This review summarizes the antimicrobial activity of essential oils (EOs) of different aromatic plants against H. pylori related infections. More than twenty EOs and herbal extracts have been identified as poten-tial natural products against H. pylori. Chemical constituents of these EOs and herbal extracts were found to be tannins, terpenoids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, amino acids, reduc-ing sugars, and proteins. (c) 2023 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Helicobacter pylori is a Class I human carcinogen that causes gastric, peptic duodenal ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders. Current triple therapy for H. pylori has limited success due to multidrug resistance. This review highlights the potential of essential oils and herbal extracts as alternative therapeutic strategies against H. pylori, with more than twenty compounds identified as having antimicrobial activity.