Abstract: | Abstract: To estimate the distribution of Helicobacter pylori in human gastric mucosa in vivo, the phenol red dye spraying endoscopy lias been successfully developed and is performed after an oral and/or intravenous premedication of famotidine 20mg. This technique was conducted on 25 patients with chronic, atrophic gastritis, on 21 patients with a gastric ulcer and on 14 patients with duodenal ulcers. The red color changes which occurred on the gastric mucosa were classified into three types; the diffuse staining type, the regional staining type and the patchy staining type. In the chronic gastritis group, the diffuse staining type, the regional staining type and the patchy staining type occurred in 11 patients (44%), 7 patients (28%) and 2 patients (8%), respectively. The remainder of the patients' mucosa was unstained. In addition, the regional staining type occurred most frequently in the gastric ulcer group, while the diffuse staining type was dominant in the duodenal ulcer group. Notably, a recurrent and intractable ulcer was surrounded by regional staining fields in the stomach, and showed a diffuse staining at the antrum of the duodenum. These facts suggest that Helicobacter pylori prevented ulcer healing. This concurs with the results of our previous experimental study which found that the low concentration NH3 solution, produced by Helicobacter pylori, prevented an acetic acid ulcer healing in rats and resulted from the suppression of the cell kinetics of the regenerative epithelial cells and the fibroblasts in the connective tissues at the ulcer margins. |