Plant-Derived Leading Compounds for Eradication of Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections are known to cause gastritis and peptic ulcers, and dramatically enhance the risk of gastric cancer. Today, eradication of this organism is an important medical goal. Recent efforts to discover potential candidates of anti-H. pylori agents have been devoted to screen plants which are used in traditional medicine. Potent anti-H. pylori compounds are identified through both the initial screening of pure natural product derived compounds and those derived from bioassay-guided fractionation of crude natural product extracts. It is suggested that several plants and their principles may be effective agents for the treatment of symptomatic and asymptomatic forms of H. pylori infections. The purpose of this paper is to review recent literatures of anti-H. pylori agents from natural products (until March 2003).