Plasma and gastric tissue selenium levels in patients with Helicobacter pylori infection

We investigated plasma and gastric mucosal selenium levels in patients with Helicobacter pylori (HP)-associated histopathologic findings in their gastric antral mucosa.

Before and after a successful HP eradication therapy, we quantitated the plasma and antral selenium levels in patients with HP-associated chronic antral gastritis using atomic absorption flame emission spectrometry. The same measurements were done in patients with dyspeptic complaints who had normal antral histology and negative urease test.

Thirty-four patients were studied, of whom 24 had HP-associated chronic antral gastritis confirmed by histology and positive urease test; the control group included 10 healthy patients. There was no difference between the groups with regard to age, gender, and number of smokers. All patients with HP infection were diagnosed with diffuse antral gastritis. Histopathology showed that 11 (49%) had some degree of atrophy. Of the 11 patients, 7 were classified as having chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) without intestinal metaplasia (IM), 4 had IM, and none had dysplasia. The plasma concentrations of selenium were found to be very similar in controls and HP-infected subjects (68.0 +/- 25.97 microg/L and 71 +/- 32.9 microg/L, respectively; p > 0.05). The antral biopsy samples of the patients with HP-associated gastritis contained significantly higher levels of tissue selenium than the controls (20.17 +/- 19.74 microg/g and 2.83 +/- 1.42 microg/g, respectively; p < 0.05). Also, it was shown that antral tissue selenium levels decrease after successful HP eradication therapy (20.17 +/- 19.4 microg/g and 7.4 +/- 4.56 microg/g, respectively; t < 0.05). The patients with HP gastritis were assigned to mild, moderate, and severe gastritis groups, according to the histopathologic degree of inflammation present. The antral gastric selenium levels were significantly higher in patients with moderate and severe HP gastritis (21.13 +/- 22.5 microg/g and 22.81 +/- 17.35 microg/g, respectively) than in patients with mild gastric inflammation (9.53 +/- 10.3 microg/g; p < 0.05). The selenium concentrations in the biopsies of patients with CAG were significantly lower than in those with HP gastritis who did not have CAG (9.45 +/- 6.44 microg/g vs. 19.13 +/- 22.48 microg/g, respectively; p < 0.05).

Selenium accumulates in gastric tissue when it is needed, as is the case in HP-related antral inflammation. This reactive increase in gastric mucosal selenium seems to disappear in the presence of precancerous gastric lesions in the setting of HP-associated gastritis.