title: Factors associated with elevated serum chromogranin A levels in patients with autoimmune gastritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Chromogranin A is an important tool in the diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumors. Autoimmune gastritis is an autoimmune disorder marked by hypergastrinemia, which stimulates enterochromaffin-like cell proliferation. Chromogranin A is also elevated in autoimmune gastritis patients with a different level of increase in each patient. The goal of this study is to explore constituents that influence serum chromogranin A levels in autoimmune gastritis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and eighty-eight autoimmune gastritis patients and 20 patients with type I gastric carcinoid tumors were analyzed retrospectively and compared to 110 functional dyspepsia patients in terms of factors that might affect serum chromogranin A levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean serum chromogranin A level was 171.17±67.3 ng/mL in autoimmune gastritis patients (n=62) without enterochromaffin-like cell hyperplasia, and 303.3±102.82 ng/mL in patients (n=126) with enterochromaffin-like cell hyperplasia (p<0.001). The presence of corpus atrophy (p=0.026, OR: 5.03, CI 95%: 1.21-20.88, β=1.61) and presence of enterochromaffin-like cell hyperplasia (p=0.017, OR: 6.59, CI 95%: 1.4-31.08, β=1.88) were found as risk factors associated with serum chromogranin A level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Factors influencing raised serum chromogranin A levels in autoimmune gastritis were the presence of ECL cell hyperplasia and serum gastrin levels. Serum chromogranin A levels maybe helpful in distinguishing autoimmune gastritis patients and gastric carcinoid type I from the control group, but not useful in the differentiation of individuals with autoimmune gastritis from patients with gastric carcinoids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Ankara University School of Medicine İbn-i Sina Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. isoykan@medicine.ankara.edu.tr.
authors.forename: Çağdaş
authors.initials: Ç
authors.lastname: Kalkan
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Karakaya
authors.forename: İrfan
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Soykan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy / Q000097:blood; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D002276:Carcinoid Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D053379:Chromogranin A / Q000097:blood*; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000097:blood; D004759:Enterochromaffin Cells; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D005756:Gastritis / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010295:Parietal Cells, Gastric / Q000276:immunology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D053379:Chromogranin A