Different effect of Helicobacter pylori on the human gastric antral and body mucosal intracellular mucin.

To elucidate the role of Helicobacter pylori infection in the pathogenesis of gastric ulcer, we investigated the intracellular mucin content by measuring the periodic acid-Schiff-Alcian blue (PAS-AB)-stained substances, by means of computer, in the biopsy sample of gastric mucosa from patients with and without H. pylori infection. In the antral mucosa the intracellular PAS-AB-stained mucin content was significantly smaller in patients with infection than in patients without infection, whereas in the oxyntic gland mucosa the intracellular mucin content showed no significant change between patients with and without infection. In an animal study we investigated the effect of ammonia, which might be produced by H. pylori in the presence of urea. The ammonia, administered orally, caused a greater decrease of intracellular PAS-AB-stained mucin content in the gastric antral mucosa than in the body mucosa, in a dose-dependent manner. The results suggested that H. pylori infection had a different effect on the gastric mucosal intracellular PAS-AB-stained mucin and lowered specifically the antral intracellular PAS-AB-stained mucin content, possibly due to generation of ammonia by H. pylori.