[Role of tissue kallikrein in chronic gastritis]

Tissue kallikrein could be specifically demonstrated in the human gastric mucosa using sandwich-type enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Eighty-five patients with chronic gastritis were then studied to investigate the relationship of tissue kallikrein to endoscopic and pathologic findings. The endoscopic Congo red method was used to classify the atrophic pattern of each patients gastric mucosa into the normal, closed or open type. Tissue kallikrein increased significantly in the closed type compared with the normal type (P less than 0.01) and in the open type compared with the closed type (P less than 0.001). Pathological findings were classified into three groups: (A) normal surface epithelium, with slight infiltration by inflammatory cells; (B) atrophic surface epithelium, with marked infiltration by inflammatory cells; and (C) atrophic surface epithelium, with marked infiltration by inflammatory cells and intestinal metaplasia. Tissue kallikrein significantly increased in the B group compared with the A group (P less than 0.01) and in the C group compared with the B group (P less than 0.001). Tissue kallikrein markedly increased with the appearance of intestinal metaplasia in the open type rather than in the closed type. An immunohistological study demonstrated that tissue kallikrein was present in the cells showing intestinal metaplasia and goblet cells. These findings suggest that chronic gastritis is a process of reconstruction of gastric mucosa.