A study of cell-mediated immunity to gastric antigens in patients with atrophic type A and B gastritis.

The leucocyte migration in the presence of gastric antigens was studied in 10 patients with type A gastritis, 38 patients with type B gastritis (28 with atrophic and 10 with superficial gastritis) and 10 healthy controls. A positive leucocyte migration was found in a significant proportion of patients with both types of gastritis, whereas no difference between the two types was observed. These results indicate that cellular immunity is implicated in the aetiology of both types of gastritis, is of greater importance than auto-antibody production and is associated with the severity of the atrophic lesion.