Changes in epithelial cell turnover related to Helicobacter pylori
infection may contribute to gastric cancer development. The response of
different anatomic sites of the gastric mucosa to H. pylori is not
known. We studied apoptosis and cell proliferation at the grater and
lesser curvature of the antrum and corpus, the fundus, and the cardia
from 9 H. pylori gastritis patients and 11 H. pylori-negative controls
with normal histology. Proliferation was highest at the major curve of
the antrum and lowest at the fundus, and apoptosis was highest at the
cardia and lowest at the major curve of the antrum in both H. pylori
gastritis and normal mucosa. Proliferation was significantly higher at
all anatomic sites, while apoptosis was significantly lower only at the
major and lesser curve of the corpus in H. pylori gastritis compared
with normal controls. Our data suggest that gastric mucosa epithelial
cell kinetics is differentiated by the anatomic site and H. pylori
infection