chemical found in broccoli and broccoli sprouts shows promise as a potential treatment for Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium that causes ulcers and raises the risk of stomach cancer, according to a study being published today in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris tested the chemical, sulforaphane, in mice and human cells under laboratory conditions.

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They found that it not only eradicated the bacteria, but worked against drug-resistant strains and bacteria that have sought refuge in the cells that line the stomach's walls.

The study's lead author, Dr. Jed W. Fahey, said in an interview that an estimated 15 to 20 percent of patients with Helicobacter pylori did not respond to the current treatments.

Dr. Fahey also notes that rates of infection are the highest — sometimes as high as 80 percent — in parts of Central and South America, Africa and China, where antibiotics can be prohibitively expensive or difficult to deliver.

Stomach cancer causes more deaths than any other kind of cancer in these regions, he said.

The amount of sulforaphane used in the study was "comparable to what one might expect to be consumed by a person eating a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables," like broccoli, cabbage or kale, he said, adding that broccoli contains far more of the chemical than other vegetables and that broccoli sprouts are even more potent.

New experiments to determine whether sulforaphane can cure Helicobacter pylori infection outside the laboratory are now being planned, he said.