Faecal antigen tests in the confirmation of the effect of Helicobacter eradication therapy.

Background: The frequent occurrence of Helicobacter pylori infection requires significant health care resources after eradication therapy. Therefore the non-invasive testing methods are required to alleviate the increased work-load of health care personnel and to allow an easy control of eradication therapy. Conventionally, the effect of eradication therapy has been confirmed with 13C-urea breath test 4-6 weeks after a completed eradication.

Low circulating levels of gastrin-17 in patients with Barrett's esophagus.

Aim: To examine whether the fasting levels of serum gastrin-17 (G-17) are lower in Barrett's esophagus (BE) patients than in non-Barrett controls.

Methods: Nineteen patients with BE (presenting with a tubular segment > or =2 cm long in lower esophagus and intestinal metaplasia of incomplete type ("pecialized columnar epithelium") in endoscopic biopsies from the tubular segment below the squamocolumnar junction were collected prospectively from outpatients referred to diagnostic gastroscopy. The controls comprised 199 prospectively collected dyspeptic outpatients without BE or any endoscopically visible lesions in the upper GI tract.