[Autoimmunity factor in chronic gastritis: incidence of antiparietal cell antibodies and their relation to antral histology and basal blood gastrins].

In 118 patients with histological proven chronic gastritis, was performed a study of seric antibodies against parietal cells (ACCP), following the indirect inmuno-fluorescence method. The results were positives in 36 cases (30%). Four positives cases were found in 40 normal controls (10%), two of them were compensated diabetics, one have the thyrohyoid Hashimoto's disease, and the remainder, brother of a patient with chronic gastritis, was a positive ACCP. A major positiveness (44.4%) was obtained in 9 cases of gastric atrophy than in 65 cases with atrophic gastritis (32%) and in 44 cases of superficial gastritis (25%); although due to the few cases of gastric atrophy regarding other histological types, conclusions cannot be obtained about the incidence of ACCP and histological variety of chronic gastritis. If we do group the patients according to their acid secretory debit, 53 achlorhydric patients had a positiveness of ACCP of 45%, while over 63 with decreased secretory capability, only 18.4%, was positive. The distribution by age groups, shows a major incidence of ACCP about the 4th and 5th decade of life. Thirty seven patients with chronic atrophic gastritis and achlorhydria, and seven with chronic superficial gastritis and hypochlorhydria, besides the antibodies study were on a basal dosage of gastrinemia and antral endoscopic biopsy, finding out that, achlorhydric patients (15 on 19) with normal or slightly altered antrus, have gastrinemia (222 +/- 123 Pgo/oo) and the majority of patients with normal gastrinemia (32 +/- 16 pgo/oo) have more important antral lesions. The ratio between antral histology and ACCP in auto--immune gastritis (Type A), conciliates only partially with the observation by Strickland et al., as only 52.4% of achlorhydric patients and ACCP have a normal antrus or al least with mild lesions. Our results suggest the possibility of that on auto--immune gastritis could act other pathogenic factors of antral lesion.