Inhibitory effect of non-alcoholic compounds from spontaneously fermented beverage on Helicobacter pylori

Global public health has long been threatened by H. pylori infection associated diseases. Spontaneously fermented beverage contains significant quantities of antibacterial and anti-inflammatory compounds. Here in this study, we demonstrated that the non-alcoholic compounds (NACs) of Baijiu, a traditional spontaneous fermented alcoholic beverage of China, have significant H. pylori inhibitory activity. It can ameliorate H. pylori infection-induced inflammation both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, NACs intervention reverses H. pylori infection-induced alteration of gut microbiota, especially boosting colonization of the beneficial gut commensal Lactobacillus, Akkermansia, Eisenbergiella, Ruminococss, and Bifidobacterium. Prediction of gut microbiota function indicated that NACs reversed the increase in a series of metabolic pathways induced by H. pylori infection, including those associated with Alzheimer's disease, pathways in cancer etc. The non-targeted metabolomic analysis reveals 384 compounds in NAC, including 142 organic acids. Amongst these compounds, the content of lactic acid is as high as 1.26 g/L. Lactic acid at such concentration effectively inhibited the growth of H. pylori, reduced urease activity and transcript levels virulence genes (VacA, CagA), and decreased H. pylori infection-induced increase of cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β) in GES-1 cells. Our work proposes that Baijiu NAC could serve as a candidate for the supportive eradication of H. pylori. More importantly, it expands upon the existing limited knowledge of the impact of H. pylori infection on gut microbiota.