Background: It is urgent to find alternative agents due to increasing failure rate of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication. The study surveyed the long-term effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) on H. pylori based on Mongolian gerbil's model.
Materials and methods: Fifty gerbils were randomly allocated to six groups (A-F). Group (Gr) A: the gerbils were fed with broth; Gr B and D: the gerbils were fed with AgNP/clay complex (0.1% of weight); Gr C and E: the gerbils were fed with AgNP/clay complex(1% of weight); and Gr D, E, and F: the gerbils were inoculated with H. pylori. At the 20th experimental week, the gerbils were sacrificed. Histology was evaluated according to the classification of the Sydney system. P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
Results: The AgNP/clay has more obvious inhibitory effect on H. pylori in vitro. There was a trend of higher concentrations of AgNP with stronger inhibitory effect on H. pylori growth (P = 0.071). There were no significant differences of inflammation among groups D, E, and F (P = 0.688).
Conclusion: AgNP/clay would be a potential and safe agent for inhibiting H. pylori. It should be helpful for eradication of H. pylori infection.