Serum biomarker tests are useful in delineating between patients with gastric atrophy and normal, healthy stomach.
OBJECTIVE
To study the value of serum biomarker tests to differentiate between patients with healthy or diseased stomach mucosa: i.e. those with Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) gastritis or atrophic gastritis, who have a high risk of gastric cancer or peptic ulcer diseases.


METHODS
Among 162 Japanese outpatients, pepsinogen I (Pg I) and II (Pg II) were measured using a conventional Japanese technique, and the European GastroPanel examination (Pg I and Pg II, gastrin-17 and H pylori antibodies). Gastroscopy with gastric biopsies was performed to classify the patients into those with healthy stomach mucosa, H pylori non-atrophic gastritis or atrophic gastritis.


RESULTS
Pg I and Pg II assays with the GastroPanel and the Japanese method showed a highly significant correlation. For methodological reasons, however, serum Pg I, but not Pg II, was twice as high with the GastroPanel test as with the Japanese test. The biomarker assays revealed that 5% of subjects had advanced atrophic corpus gastritis which was also verified by endoscopic biopsies. GastroPanel examination revealed an additional seven patients who had either advanced atrophic gastritis limited to the antrum or antrum-predominant H pylori gastritis. When compared to the endoscopic biopsy findings, the GastroPanel examination classified the patients into groups with "healthy" or "diseased" stomach mucosa with 94% accuracy, 95% sensitivity and 93% specificity.


CONCLUSIONS
Serum biomarker tests can be used to differentiate between subjects with healthy and diseased gastric mucosa with high accuracy.
Iijima
Katsunori
K
Division of Gastroenterology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1, Seiryo-machi, Aobaku, Sendai 980-8574, Japan. jiijima@int3.med.tohoku.ac.jp
Abe
Yasuhiko
Y
Kikuchi
Ryosuke
R
Koike
Tomoyuki
T
Ohara
Shuichi
S
Sipponen
Pentti
P
Shimosegawa
Tooru
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005755:Gastrins / Q000097:blood; D005756:Gastritis / Q000097:blood* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D005757:Gastritis, Atrophic / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D016480:Helicobacter pylori; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D020116:Pepsinogen A / Q000097:blood; D020115:Pepsinogen C / Q000097:blood; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D013270:Stomach / Q000502:physiology*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
D005755:Gastrins; C013550:gastrin 17; D020115:Pepsinogen C; D020116:Pepsinogen A