Somatostatin and D cells in patients with gastritis in the course of Helicobacter pylori eradication: a six-month, follow-up study.
OBJECTIVE
As well as causing chronic gastritis, Helicobacter pylori predisposes patients to peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer, and induces gastric functional disorders. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of H. pylori eradication therapy on the morphological and functional recovery of gastric antral and corpus D cells in patients with chronic gastritis during 6 months of follow-up.


METHODS
Forty consecutive, dyspeptic patients referred for endoscopy (31 with H. pylori infection and nine controls; mean age 49 years; 17 men, 23 women) entered the study. All patients had histological signs of gastritis but no signs of peptic ulcer or gastric cancer. Antrum (n=8) and corpus (n=6) biopsy specimens were collected for routine histology, radioimmunoassay tissue somatostatin levels, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy, prior to and 6 months after therapy. Basal plasma somatostatin levels were determined prior to eradication, plus 6 weeks and 6 months after therapy. Eradication therapy consisted of amoxicillin, metronidazole and omeprazole.


RESULTS
Basal somatostatin plasma values in antral and corpus tissue were lower in infected patients than in the H. pylori-negative controls at the beginning of the study. A significant increase occurred after successful eradication therapy, together with an increase in the number of D cells in both regions. Changes in the D-cell ultrastructure in antral and corpus mucosa after eradication therapy suggest an increase in somatostatin synthesis and secretion.


CONCLUSIONS
The structural and functional restoration of D cells following eradication therapy indicates possible recovery of the diseased mucosa.
Milutinovic
Aleksandra Sokic
AS
Clinic for Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Institute for Digestive Diseases, Clinical Centre of Serbia, Yugoslavia. asokic2002@yahoo.com
Todorovic
Vera
V
Milosavljevic
Tomica
T
Micev
Marjan
M
Spuran
Milan
M
Drndarevic
Neda
N
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002452:Cell Count; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D005756:Gastritis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000473:pathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011706:Pyloric Antrum / Q000473:pathology; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D019864:Somatostatin-Secreting Cells / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D013004:Somatostatin