Novel combination therapy for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection in a mouse model

Objective. To investigate the combination therapy, consisting of hyperimmune bovine colostrum, N-acetyl cysteine, zinc and amoxicillin on the eradication of Helicobacter pylori in a mouse model. Material and methods. C57BL/6 female mice (6 weeks of age) were inoculated with 0.1 ml of 1 x 10(9) H. pylori via a single oro-gastric gavage and were left infected for 4 weeks. Mice (n = 9/group) were randomly allocated to receive by oral gavage (0.1 ml) HNZ (hyperimmune bovine colostrum + N-acetyl cysteine + zinc), HNZA (HNZ + amoxicillin; A), HNZA2 (2 x amoxicillin; A2), HNZA5 (5 x amoxicillin; A5), triple therapy (TT) or saline twice daily for 10 days. Bacterial load was assessed by culture. Gastric emptying was assessed by C-13-octanoic acid breath test. Results. Mice receiving HNZ, HNZA, and HNZA2 have a 22%, 44% and 67% eradication rate, respectively. Eradication rate was 100% with HNZA5, TT and those animals receiving A5 alone. In H. pylori infected mice there was an increased gastric emptying time by 7.9, 3.7, 10.1 and 7.7 min for the TT, HNZ, HNZA2, and HNZA5, respectively, compared to saline. Conclusions. HNZ with the addition of a high dose of amoxicillin is effective at eradicating H. pylori in vivo as HNZA1 and HNZA2 did not give raise to eradication. The potency of the novel anti-H. pylori combination therapy may be due to the delayed gastric emptying.