Helicobacter pylori serology in chronic gastritis with antral atrophy and negative histology for Helicobacter-like organisms

It has been suggested that there may be a correlation between Helicobacter-pylori (Hp) infection and precancerous lesions of the stomach. However, histological evaluation of bacterial colonization in chronic atrophic gastritis shows a relatively low prevalence of the microrganism, which does not support the hypothesis. The aim of our study was to investigate the Hp serology in 95 patients with chronic gastritis with antral atrophy, with (27 cases) and without (68 cases) intestinal meta plasia, and without Helicobacter-like organisms in antral and corpus biopsy specimens. For all subjects, serum anti-Hp immunoglobulin IgG was identified by a fluorescent immuno-enzymatic method (Helori-test; Eurospital), and mucosal atrophy and activity were graded histologically (Sydney System score). The serum Hp-antibody status documented the presence of current bacterial infections in 64 of 95 (67.4%) patients and previous infections in another 17 subjects. In only 14.7% of cases was there no evidence of current or previous infection. These subjects had less severe mucosal atrophy and lower inflammatory scores. In addition, there were no cases of intestinal metaplasia in such subjects. The high prevalence of Hp infection confirms the primary role of the microrganism in the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis with antral atrophy, although the bacterium is no longer present in the advanced stages of such disease. The histological evaluation of Hp colonization following the criteria of the Sydney System appears from our study to underestimate the true prevalence of the infection in the stomach when there is mucosal atrophy.