Journal of Chemotherapy (Florence, Italy) Vol. 13, Issue 6, December 2001, Pages 611-614

Bactericidal activity of Pistacia lentiscus, mastic gum against Helicobacter pylori

Marone P, Bono L, Leone E, Bona S, Carretto E, Perversi L.

Laboratorio di Batteriologia e Micologia--Area Infettivologica, IRCCS S. Matteo, Pavia, Italy. Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo.

Abstract

In this study we evaluated the antibacterial activity of mastic gum, a resin obtained from the Pistacia lentiscus tree, against clinical isolates of Helicobacter pylori. The minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) were obtained by a microdilution assay. Mastic gum killed 50% of the strains tested at a concentration of 125 microg/ml and 90% at a concentration of 500 microg/ml. The influence of sub-MBCs of mastic gum on the morphologies of H. pylori was evaluated by transmission electron microscopy. The lentiscus resin induced blebbing, morphological abnormalities and cellular fragmentation in H. pylori cells.