title: The length of the Barrett's mucosa in baboons, revisited.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chewing of regurgitated food with rumination elicits, gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in baboons. Protracted reflux transforms the distal multilayered squamous cell-lined epithelium into columnar-lined mucosa, with mucus-producing glands having interspersed oxyntic glands. In humans, this histological constellation is called Barrett's mucosa type 2 (BMT2).
  
  
  METHODS
  The distal esophagus together with the proximal stomach was removed en bloc, at autopsy, from 35 adult baboons. Longitudinal sections were stained with toluidine blue, a stain that permits easy discrimination between parietal and chief gastric glands. Using a calibrated ocular scale, the length of the BMT2 was assessed in all 35 baboons.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean length of the BMT2 was 9.80 mm (range 1.0 mm-40.2 mm).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BMT2 in baboons is an integrated part of the natural phenomenon of mucosal adaptation to daily regurgitation of gastric acid into the distal esophagus (natural GER), whereas BMT2 in humans might reflect an evolutionary atavism in the esophagus, triggered by a non-physiological disorder (pathological GER). The baboon offers a suitable model to monitor the series of histological events that take place in the distal esophagus under the influence of protracted GER.
authors: Southwest National Primate Research Center at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, TX, USA. Carlos.Rubio@ki.se
authors: Carlos A
authors: CA
authors: Rubio
authors: John R
authors: JR
authors: Nilsson
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Owston
authors: Edward J
authors: EJ
authors: Dick
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000473:pathology; D010215:Papio