RESUMEN
In order to study the causal relationship between Helicobacter pylori [HP] and various inflammatory reactions in gastric antral mucosa, we have reviewed 268 endoscopic gastric biopsies in the Department of Pathology of Mubarak Al-Kabeer Teaching Hospital in Kuwait. Of the 219 HP-positive biopsies, 95.4% showed chronic gastritis [CG], 59.8% active chronic gastritis [ACG] and 78.5% lymphoid hyperplasia [LH]. The prevalence of LH, CG or ACG, either alone or in combination, increased with increasing density [grade] of HP colonization, assuming statistical significance for LH and ACG [P<0.05], especially when these changes in Grade 1 HP cases were compared to those of Grades 2 and 3 combined. Moreover, the grade of LH by itself also showed statistically significant correlation [P<0.01] with the grade of inflammation. Our results confirm a causal relationship between HP colonization of gastric mucosa and the various forms of gastritis, and also provide evidence in support of induction of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue [MALT] by HP, an observation which may have significance in the genesis of gastric MALTomas