Association of Helicobacter pylori infection and serum pepsinogen with chronic gastric diseases and gastric cancer

Objective To investigate the relationship of Helicobacter pylori(Hp) infection and serum pepsinogen(PG) with chronic gastric diseases and gastric cancer.Methods Serum levels of PG Ⅰ,PG Ⅱ and Hp-IgG antibodies were detected by ELISA and colloidal gold method in 240 patients,who were divided into 5 groups of A(40 cases with superficial gastritis),B(41 cases with gastric ulcer),C(46 cases with atrophic gastritis),D(55 cases with gastric cancer) and E(58 cases as normal controls).Results Compared with group E,serum levels of PG Ⅰ,PG Ⅱ were higher,but the ratio of PG Ⅰ to PG Ⅱ(PGR) was lower,in group B(P0.01).Serum PG Ⅰ and PGR were lower,but PG Ⅱ was higher,in groups of C and D than those in group E(P0.01 or P0.05).The positive rates of Hp infection in groups of E,A,B,C and D were 56.9%,65.0%,78.0%,69.6% and 76.4%,respectively(P0.05).There were no obvious differences in serum PG Ⅰ,PG Ⅱ and PGR between the cases with anti-Hp IgG positive and those with anti-Hp IgG negative in the same group(P0.05).Conclusion The changes of serum PG Ⅰ and PG Ⅱ levels may be taken as the indicators for screening gastric cancer and precarcinoma lesions.Hp infection has little effect on serum pepsinogen level in the patients with chronic gastric diseases and gastric cancer.