A Preliminary Investigation of the Jack-Bean Urease Inhibition by Randomly Selected Traditionally Used Herbal Medicine

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection leads to different clinical and pathological outcomes in humans, including chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease and gastric neoplasia and even gastric cancer and its eradiation dependst upon multi-drug therapy. The most effective therapy is still unknown and prompts people to make great efforts to find better and more modern natural or synthetic anti-H. pylori agents. In this report 21 randomly selected herbal methanolic extracts were evaluated for their effect on inhibition of Jack-bean urease using the indophenol method as described by Weatherburn. The inhibition potency was measured by UV spectroscopy technique at 630 nm which attributes to released ammonium. Among these extracts, five showed potent inhibitory activities with IC(50) ranges of 18-35 μg/mL. These plants are Matricaria disciforme (IC(50):35 μg/mL), Nasturtium officinale (IC(50):18 μg/mL), Punica granatum (IC(50):30 μg/mL), Camelia sinensis (IC(50):35 μg/mL), Citrus aurantifolia (IC(50):28 μg/mL).