Using Concentration of Bile Acid in Gastric Mucosa to Assess the Effect of Bile Reflux on Gastric Mucosa

The concentration of bile acid in gastric mucosa directly reflects the degree of bile acid exposure and embody the infringement intensity to gastric mucosa. Aims: To evaluate the effect of bile reflux on histopathological changes of gastric mucosa by concentration of bile acid in gastric mueosal tissue. Methods: Forty patients with bile reflux gastritis and 20 patients without bile reflux gastritis who were diagnosed by endoscopy and concentration of bile acid in gastric mucosa were enrolled. Detection rate of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and histopathological score were evaluated, and its correlation with concentration of bile acid in gastric mucosa was analyzed. Results: Compared with patients without bile reflux gastritis, the concentration of bile acid in antrum and corpus were significant increased in patients with bile reflux gastritis (P0.05), but no significant difference of detection rate of H. pylori was found between those with and without bile reflux gastritis (P0.05). The score of chronic inflammation and intestinal metaplasia in antrum, and score of chronic inflammation, activity of inflammation, atrophy and intestinal metaplasia in corpus were significantly increased in patients with bile reflux gastritis (P0.05), and the histopathological changes were correlated with the concentration of bile acid (P0.05). Conclusions: The bile reflux assessed by concentration of bile acid in gastric mucosa is correlated positively with histopathological changes in gastric mucosa. Compared with the patients without bile reflux gastritis, bile reflux mainly aggravates the histopathological changes in corpus.