TRANSCRIPTIONAL EXPRESSION OF GASTRIN MESSENGER-RNA IN HELICOBACTER-PYLORI INFECTED PATIENTS

In order to study the association between gastrin and H. pylori infect ion the density of antral G cells was evaluated by transcriptional exp ression of gastrin mRNA using a sensitive cold probe labelled with dig oxigenin. The study group included 22 patients with symptomatic H. pyl ori positive gastritis and/or duodenal ulcer, 12 of whom were re-evalu ated after eradication of H. pylori and 6 controls. The number of G ce lls per high power field in H. pylori positive patients (26.68+/-9.51) was significantly higher (P<0.01) compared to controls (5.83+/-3.37). Among the 12 patients re-evaluated after H. pylori eradication, there was a significant decrease (P<0.001) in the number of G cells (13.5+/ -5.44) compared to pre-eradication value (26.25+/-8.0). The present st udy suggests that increased transcriptional expression of gastrin is d irectly related to H. pylori infection.