Intestinal metaplasia of antral superficial-foveolar epithelium in children with atrophic gastritis

INTRODUCTION: Chronic gastritis (CG) being the most common digestive diseases is frequently underestimated both by patients and clinicians. However, CG developed as early as in childhood, and often accompanied by Helicobacter pylori contamination of antral mucus, has a persistent recurrent course in adult patients complicated by mucosa transformations in the form of atrophy, metaplasia and dysplasia. CG can appear as an early stage in the morphogenesis of tumour growth. From this point of view, CG is worth noticing.
METHODS: There has been performed a complex morphological study of antral mucosa in school children with atrophic gastritis using histochemistry, immunohistochemistry and a morphometric method.
RESULTS: In atrophic gastritis we have revealed the decrease in the number of functionally mature cells responsible for the production of extracelullar matrix and basal membrane components, the lack of which in paraepithelial localization results in the change of their special properties. In addition, in atrophic gastritis there have been found sulphomucins non-characteristic of stomach overlapped on mucosa and in single foveolae.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Permanent impairment in the conjugation of cell and tissue components in mucosa accompanied by the change of an epithelial layer synthetic function with the impaired physico-chemical properties of gastric mucin results in intestinal metaplasia as early as in childhood.