Abstract
Purpose To evaluate serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in chronic gastritis patients to predict Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection, inflammatory activity, and precancerous lesions. Methods A total of 811 patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms and histopathological diagnosis of chronic gastritis were enrolled in the study. On endoscopy, five gastric biopsies were taken according to Modified Sydney protocol, which were stained with hematoxylin & eosin and Giemsa ResultsHP infection was found in 28.6% of patients, being significantly more common in specimens with acute and chronic inflammatory activity. Mucosal atrophy, intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia were found in 20.2%, 18.8% and 2.7% of biopsy specimens. Mean hs-CRP was 1.9±1.6 mg/dl for males and 2.2±1.9 mg/dl for females. hs-CRP average were significantly higher in patients with severe acute inflammation (p:0.049), in patients with severe chronic inflammation (p:0.015) and in those with HP (p: 0.001) . The severity of HP infection increased significantly with the increased degree of acute inflammation, chronic inflammation and hs-CRP level (p=0.001 for both). Conclusion Serum hs-CRP level increases in patients with chronic gastritis, it could be an indicator of severity of acute or chronic mucosal inflammation, and presence of HP infection. Therefore, hs-CRP may aid the diagnosis of chronic gastritis, but it is not associated with pre-cancerous lesions.
Highlights
Helicobacter pylori (HP) affects over half of the population worldwide and is the major etiology of chronic gastritis[1]
Serum level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) (hs-CRP) has been known to increase in chronic gastritis with HP infection, limited studies have focused on the association of hs-CRP level with inflammatory activity and presence of precancerous lesions in biopsy specimens[11,12]
Intestinal metaplasia, and dysplasia were found in 20.2%, 17.8%, and 2,7% of biopsy specimens obtained from 811 patients
Summary
Helicobacter pylori (HP) affects over half of the population worldwide and is the major etiology of chronic gastritis[1]. The histolopathological evidence of precancerous lesions of chronic gastritis, such as gastric atrophy and intestinal metaplasia has been well known to be associated with HP infection[3,4] Since it is an infection causing an inflammatory disease, HP gastritis is associated with the increase in serum markers of inflammation such as interleukin family, C-reactive protein (CRP), platelets, neutrophils[5,6,7,8]. Among these markers, CRP is an acute-phase protein, which is commonly used as a marker of various systemic acute and chronic inflammatory conditions[9]. If hs-CRP level is predictive of inflammation level and precancerous lesions, it can be used as a simple and accesible laboratory test in early diagnosis, treatment response monitoring, and cancer screening in chronic gastritis patients
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
