Helicobacter pylori in patients with intestinal metaplasia and in controls: a serological and biopsy study in four UK centres. UK Sub-Group of the ECP-EURONUT-Intestinal Metaplasia Study Group.

The incidence of Helicobacter pylori was compared in high and low risk gastric cancer areas. Complete data were available on 116 age and sex matched sets of cases--patients with histologically proven intestinal metaplasia (IM)--and two control groups, one non-IM endoscoped controls (EC) and one non-endoscoped controls (NC) recruited from out-patient clinics. H. pylori status was determined by both serology and histology in individuals biopsied from three separate gastric sites. Our data show an increased incidence of H. pylori and intestinal metaplasia in areas at high risk for gastric cancer, good agreement on H. pylori status between histology and serology and a relationship between H. pylori status in individual biopsies and the degree of gastritis. With 116 matched sets of patients this is one of the largest series to date and supports the hypothesis that H. pylori infection may be involved in gastric carcinogenesis through chronic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia.