Comparing the antimicrobial properties of pomegranate seed and peel extract with common antibiotics used on helicobacter pylori isolated from biopsies of patients referring to Kashan Shahid-Beheshti hospital

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a worldwide problem nowadays. Considering H. pylori resistance to antibiotics, the need for complementary therapies or substances that reduce antibiotic resistance is completely obvious. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial properties of pomegranate seed and peel extract against H. pylori. Pomegranate seed and peel extract were prepared in different concentrations (10, 15 and 20 percent) separately using the DMSO. Mixtures of these concentrates with meteronidazol and claritromycin (each with 3 concentrates) as well as the discs for each concentrate were prepared. Finally, H. pylori resistance in stomach biopsies of candidates for esophagoscopy was evaluated for each disc during 2008-2009 in Kashan. Considering an inhibitory zones around each disc and comparing those to the tables of national committee for clinical laboratory standards (NCCLS), antibiotic sensitivity to clarithromycin and meteronidazol increased significantly with pomegranate peel extract and it was not significantly increased with the pomegranate seed extract compared to the antibiotic discs alone. Although the pomegranate seed and peel extract has no effect on inhibition zone of H. pylori, it can be used in reducing antibiotic resistance of meteronidazol and clarithromycin to eradicate H. pylori.