Endocrine cells in intestinal metaplasia of the stomach

In this study we have investigated the mucin profile and the endocrine cell population in gastric endoscopic biopsies from 22 patients affected by chronic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia and in five surgical specimens of stomachs removed because of intestinal-type carcinoma (4) or peptic ulcer (1). High iron diamine-Alcian blue (HID-Ab) staining and peptide immunocytochemistry (peroxidase anti-peroxidase technique) were used. Forty-one foci of intestinal metaplasia were detected, 15 produced sulphomucins and 26 sialomucins. Of the endocrine cells investigated, gastrin and somatostatin cells were the most frequently observed, while cholecystokinin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide-, secretin- and enteroglucagon-containing cells were also found in the metaplastic areas, but less frequently. No significant correlation was found between the type of mucin and the types of endocrine cells present, the latter usually resembling those normally found in the small intestine. On the basis of these results we conclude that intestinal metaplasia involves mucin- and peptide-producing cells of the stomach in a variable manner, with no correlation between the two.