[Estimation of gastric mucosa morphological changes in subjects with asymptomatic Helicobacter pylori infection and family history of gastric cancer].

Helicobacter pylori is a known carcinogen but the natural history of gastric carcinoma development has not been recognized thoroughly and early diagnostics is difficult particularly in asymptomatic infection. The aim of own study was gastric mucosa morphological estimation in subjects with asymptomatic H. pylori infection. Investigations were performed in 60 subjects, aged 24-55 years with family history of gastric cancer and with asymptomatic (group I; n=30) and symptomatic infection (group II; n=30). The infection and its severity were confirmed with breath test with the use of 75 mg of 13C labelled urea and Olympus FANci-2 analyzer. Gastric mucosa macro- and microscopic state was evaluated according to 4-degree Sydney scale. In group II macroscopic changes were more pronounced than in group I (p=0.032); no such differences were seen in microscopic picture (p=0.625). The extent of macro- and microscopic changes demonstrated positive correlation with the results of breath test (group I: r=0.8169; group II: r=0.8393). In subjects with family history of gastric cancer H. pylori infection both, symptomatic and asymptomatic causes similar gastric mucosa histopathological changes including intestinal metaplasia. The degree of morphological changes demonstrates positive dependence with the severity of infection.