Antibacterial activity of Zn-loaded Cuban zeolite against Helicobacter pylori in comparison to its Na-loaded and unmodified counterparts.

Helicobacter pylori can be found in the stomach of about half of the humans, and a large population can be associated with serious diseases. To survive in the stomach H. pylori increases the pH locally by producing ammonia which binds to H becoming ammonium. This work investigated the effects on the in-vitro growth of H. pylori of a natural cation-exchanger mainly composed (≈70%) of clinoptilolite and mordenite. The zeolitized material from Cuba was evaluated in its original form (M), as well as in its Na- (M-Na) and Zn-exchanged (M-Zn) counterparts. In the preliminary agar cup diffusion test, H. pylori revealed susceptibility only to M-Zn, with a direct relationship between concentration and width of inhibition halo. Further experiments evidenced that bacterium replication increases when ammonium is supplied to the growth medium and decreases when zeolites subtract NH via ion exchange. Due to the multi-cationic population of its zeolites M was not effective enough in removing ammonium and, in the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) test, allowed bacterial growth even at a concentration of 50 mg/mL. Inhibition was achieved with M-Na because it contained sodium zeolites capable of maximizing NH subtraction, although the MIC was high (30 mg/mL). M-Zn evidenced a more effective inhibitory capacity, with a MIC of 4 mg/mL. Zinc has antimicrobial properties and H. pylori growth was affected by Zn released from clinoptilolite and mordenite. These zeolites, being more selective towards NH than Zn, can also subtract ammonium to the bacterium, thus enhancing the efficacy of M-Zn.