Bacteria of the gastric antrum and their relation to chronic gastritis

Biopsy samples from the gastric antrum were taken from 61 patients. On bacteriological culture, Campylobacter pylori was isolated in 27 subjects. Thirty-four patients had chronic gastritis, as seen in routine-stained histological sections. By means of the May-Grünwald-Giemsa (MGG) staining technique, bacteria were demonstrated in sections from 26 subjects. Of these, 22 had gastritis histologically. In 13 subjects, structures similar to Campylobacter pylori were found in MGG-stained sections, 11 of these having chronic active gastritis histologically. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrated bacteria with the typical appearance of Campylobacter pylori, but other types of bacteria were also found, both on electron microscopy and on bacteriological culture. The study confirms that there is an increased frequency of histological gastritis when Campylobacter pylori is present in the samples (p = 0.009). However, a causative role of the bacteria could not be demonstrated in this study, and bacterial penetration into the epithelium was not observed.