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TOKYO, JAPAN. The bacterium Helicobacter pylori causes chronic infection
of the stomach which may lead to ulcers and stomach cancer. Stomach cancer is
now the leading cancer in Japan and it is estimated that 70-80 per cent of all
Japanese are infected with H. pylori. Research has shown that a high
intake of vitamin C protects against stomach cancer. Now scientists at the
Research Institute of the International Medical Center of Japan report evidence
that vitamin C is highly effective in inhibiting the growth of H. pylori.
The scientists checked the inhibitory effects of vitamin-C both in vitro
and in vivo. Strains of H. pylori isolated from biopsy specimens
taken from patients with stomach ulcers were grown in a culture medium (blood
agar plates) and then exposed to dilute solutions of sodium ascorbate. At a pH
of 5.5 (the pH of the gastric juice close to the stomach lining) a vitamin C
concentration of only 128 micrograms/mL inhibited the growth of H. pylori
by 90 per cent. In vivo experiments using Mongolian gerbils innoculated
with H. pylori confirmed vitamin C's inhibiting effects. The scientists point
out that the concentration of ascorbic acid in stomach acid from patients with
an H. pylori infection is much lower (2.8 micrograms/mL average) than in
uninfected people (17.8 micrograms/mL) and conclude that H. pylori can
destroy vitamin C. They speculate, however, that if vitamin C concentrations
are high enough to overwhelm the capacity of H. pylori to destroy it then
the inhibitory effects of vitamin C may well stop the overgrowth of the
bacterium. The scientists believe that it is quite possible to obtain a vitamin
C concentration in the stomach of 128 micrograms/mL by supplementing with
vitamin C and point out that vitamin C-fortified orange juice can contain over
7000 micrograms/mL of vitamin C. They conclude that further studies on the
efficacy of vitamin C in treating H. pylori infections should be
done.
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