Helicobacter pylori detected deep in gastric glands: an ultrastructural quantitative study

To determine the presence of Helicobacter pylori deep in the gastric glands and in the parietal cell canaliculi, biopsied specimens from 15 patients were observed by electron microscopy. In the specimens, 818 H. pylori and 1,846 parietal cells were detected. Most of the H. pylori (93.9%, 768/818) were present on the mucosal surface. However, a few organisms (50/818, 6.1%) were detected deep in the mucosa. The mean number of H. pylori per specimen was 2.13 (32/818, 3.9%) and 1.20 (18/818, 2.2%), deep in the gland and in the parietal cell canaliculi, respectively. All appeared morphologically intact. Although the combination of culture and histology from biopsy tissues is usually used for isolation of H. pylori in most laboratories, such organisms are considered difficult to detect with conventional methods and to dislodge with antimicrobial therapy. Therefore, H. pylori present deep in the mucosa are suggested to be one of the factors in recrudescence after eradication therapy. In addition, H. pylori in the parietal cell canaliculi may affect parietal cell function or alter gastric physiology.