Suppression of Helicobacter pylori protease activity towards growth factors by sulglycotide.

Infection with H. pylori is now recognized as a major factor in the pathogenesis of gastric disease. Here, we examined the susceptibility of epidermal growth factor (EGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) and platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) to degradation by H. pylori protease, and assessed the effect of a cytoprotective agent, sulglycotide, on this process. The 125I-labeled EGF, bFGF, TGF beta and PDGF were incubatet with H. pylori protease, obtained from the filtrates of saline washes of the bacterium culture, in the presence of 0-100 micrograms sulglycotide. The results showed that, under the assay conditions, H. pylori protease caused only 5% degradation of EGF and 7% degradation of bFGF. However, the protease evoked a 61.7% degradation of PDGF and a 62.3% degradation of TGF beta. Introduction of sulglycotide to the reaction assay system caused a dose-dependent inhibition in PDGF and TGF beta proteolysis by the H. pylori enzyme. The maximal inhibitory effect was obtained with sulglycotide at 100 micrograms/ml, at which dose an 84.4% decrease in PDGF and 88.3% decrease in TGF beta degradation was achieved. The results provide a strong evidence for the effectiveness of sulglycotide in the protection of gastric mucosal growth factors against degradation by H. pylori.