ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in gastric mucosa of patient with portal hypertensive gastropathy (PHG),and its role in the pathogenesis of PHG.Methods The specimens were obtained from the gastric mucosa of 22 healthy subjects,20 portal hypertension (PHT) without PHG,and 22 PHG patients.Histological changes of the gastric mucosa were detected,and portal venous flow (PVF) was measured.The expression of HO-1 protein in gastric mucosal specimens was assessed by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis,respectively.The relationship between HO-1 expression and PHG severity score,HO-1 expression and PVF,PHG severity score and clinical parameters were investigated.Results HO-1 protein expression in gastric mucosa of PHG and PHT was significantly higher than that of the control (P ＜ 0.05),while there was no significant difference in this variable between PHG and PHT (P ＞ 0.05).The positive correlation was detected between HO-1 expression and PHG severity score in PHG patients (r =0.459,P ＜0.05),however,PHG severity score was irrelevant to severity of esophageal varice (r =0.059,P ＞ 0.05) or to Child-Pugh classification (r =-0.001,P ＞ 0.05).Of all the patients with PHT and PHG,no significant correlation was found between HO-1 expression and PVF (r =0.071,P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion HO-1 protein is up-regulated in gastric mucosa of PHG patients,which may contribute to gastric circulation disorder of PHG.