Steroid hormones as bactericidal agents to Helicobacter pylori

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori is a unique bacterial species that assimilates various steroids as membrane lipid components. Our group has recently found, however, that certain steroids may impair the viability of H. pylori. In this study, we go on to reveal that estradiol, androstenedione, and progesterone (PS) all have the potential to inhibit the growth of H. pylori. Of these three steroid hormones, progesterone demonstrated the most effective anti-H. pylori action. 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17αPSCE), a synthetic progesterone derivative, had a much stronger anti-H. pylori action than progesterone, whereas 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, a natural progesterone derivative, completely failed to inhibit the growth of the organism. Progesterone and 17αPSCE were both found to kill H. pylori through their bacteriolytic action. Among five bacterial species investigated, H. pylori was the only species susceptible to the bactericidal action of progesterone and 17αPSCE. The other four species, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epiderimidis, all resisted this action. Progesterone and free-cholesterol (FC) obstructed each other's effects against the H. pylori cell. Taken in sum, these results suggest that progesterone and FC may bind to the identical region on the H. pylori cell surface. We expect these findings to contribute to the development of a novel anti-H. pylori steroidal agent.

The Changes of Fecal Steroid Hormones and Bacterial Composition in Different Gestation Stages of Meishan Sows

“…Researches indicated that CORT increased the proliferation of Salmonella in primary porcine alveolar macrophages [21]. Hosoda et al [22] revealed that estradiol and progesterone inhibited the growth of Helicobacter pylori in vitro culture [22]. All these suggest that the steroid hormones may influence the replication of bacteria.…”

The desA and desB genes from Clostridium scindens ATCC 35704 encode steroid-17,20-desmolase

“…Many host immune cells express androgen-receptor [35,36], and it is possible that C. scindens affects immune function through generation of androgens. Androgens directly affect bacterial growth and virulence [37][38][39]. Intriguingly, steroids have been shown to influence C. difficile germination [40].…”

Phosphatidylethanolamine of Helicobacter pylori Functions as a Steroid-Binding Lipid in the Assimilation of Free Cholesterol and 3 -Hydroxl Steroids into the Bacterial Cell Membrane

“…FC beads were prepared by a method described elsewhere (11). H. pylori (approximately 10 6 CFU/ml) was cultured for 24 h with FC beads (FC concentration, 250 M) in PPLO broth (30 ml) in the presence or absence of 0.2% dM␤CD with shaking under microaerobic conditions.…”

“…H. pylori cells aggressively ingest FC from FC-supplemented medium or extract FC from the lipid raft of the epithelial cell membrane. The FC absorbed into H. pylori membranes is glucosylated via enzymatic action (14), and the organism cells retain both FC itself and glucosylated FC as membrane lipid components (11,23). A previous study by our group identified three types of glucosylated FC (9): cholesteryl-␣-D-glucopyranoside (CGL), cholesteryl-6-O-tetradecanoyl-␣-D-glucopyranoside (CAG), and cholesteryl-6-Ophosphatidyl-␣-D-glucopyranoside (CPG).…”