Autoantibodies in chronic gastritis

Gastric parietal cell, antinuclear, smooth-muscle, mitochondrial and microsomal antibodies were determined in 12 Chinese patients with chronic atropic gastritis, 15 Chinese patients with chronic (superficial) gastritis, four Chinese patients with acute-on-chronic gastritis and 16 Chinese control subjects. With the exception of a weakly positive gastric parietal cell antibody test in one of the 12 patients with chronic atrophic gastritis, autoantibodies were not found in all the gastritis and contol groups. It is concluded that autoantibodies are rarely present in Chinese patients with chronic gastritis.