Influence of Helicobacter pylori on the gastric mucosal barrier

AIM: To study the influence of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) on the gastric mucosal barrier (GMB) by the measurement of the potential difference (PD).METHODS: Fifty seven chronic gastritis cases were diagnosed endoscopically and confirmed by forceps mucosal biopsy. PD was measured by the Takeuchi method, and Hp was detected by both culture (modified Skirrow method) and press printing method with the Giemsa stain. Patients were divided randomly into three groups (De-Nol, WeiTong-Ling, and Placebo) for a course of 6 wk therapy.RESULTS: PD across the mucosa of antrum was significantly lower in Hp (+) patients than in Hp (-) patients (16.44 ± 2.36 vs 19.58 ± 2.44, P < 0.0001). In Hp (+) patients, PD in the antrum increased markedly (16.88 ± 2.56 vs 20.03 ± 2.21, P < 0.0001) after Hp was cleared up by the De-Nol treatment.CONCLUSION: Our data strongly indicated that Hp infection might cause a gastric mucosal barrier to be impaired markedly while the clearance of Hp by De-Nol recovered the integrity of the gastric mucosal barrier significantly.