Mast cell density in cardio-esophageal mucosa

Mast cells are related to certain gastrointestinal complaints. Mast cell density has not been studied in cardio-esophageal region to the best of our knowledge. In this study we wanted to obtain an estimate of mast cell density in this region and compare it with mast cell density in antrum. From April 2007 till March 2010, we chose children (<14 years old) who underwent upper endoscopy and from whom the taken biopsy was stated to be from lower third of esophagus, but in microscopic examination either cardio- esophageal mucosa or only cardiac mucosa was seen. Mast cells were counted by Giemsa stain at × 1000 magnification in 10 fields. 71 children (<14 years old) were included in this study of which, 63.4% (n=45) were female and 36.6% (n=26) were male. The mean age of patients was 7.20 ± 4.21 years (range: 0.2 -14 years). The most common clinical manifestations were recurrent abdominal pain (64.8%) and vomiting (23.9%) followed by symptoms of gastro-esophageal reflux disorder, poor weight gain, hematemesis and dysphagia. The mean mast cell density in the cardiac mucosa was 33.41 ± 32.75 in 0.25 mm2 (range: 0-155), which was two times of that in antral mucosa. We found a significant but weak positive correlation at the 0.05 level between mast cell density of cardiac mucosa and the antrum. Higher mast cell counts were seen in cardiac mucosa in this study. Significant positive correlation between mast cell density of cardiac mucosa and the antrum could hint to a single underlying etiology for the inflammatory process in gastro- esophageal junction and gastric mucosa.