A method for establishing primary cultures of human gastric epithelial cells.

Long-term culture of human gastric epithelial cells has been difficult, and at present no normal human gastric epithelial cell lines are readily available. As part of our experiments to study pathogenesis of H. pylori, a bacterium that infects the stomach, we developed methods to culture normal human gastric epithelial cells. Primary cultures of human gastric epithelial cells can be established from gastric biopsies taken at upper G.I. endoscopy. Enzymatically isolated gastric epithelial-like cells are present in tight colonies on culture dishes within 24 hours of placing the cells in culture. Cells isolated stain positively for cytokeratin and produce neutral mucins, indicating that they are mucin secreting epithelial cells, consistent with gastric epithelial cells. Epithelial cells can be maintained up to 4 weeks in culture with evidence of DNA synthesis up through the first week of culture.

Effects of sucralfate on vacuolating cytotoxin activity and adherence of Helicobacter pylori to human gastric epithelial cells.

Sucralfate inhibits activity of certain Helicobacter pylori enzymes, implying that this medication may limit gastric cell injury associated with H pylori infection. This study evaluates the ability of sucralfate and its two major structural components, sucrose octasulfate and aluminum hydroxide, to reduce the cytotoxic effects of H pylori and to inhibit binding of H pylori to human gastric epithelial cells. Experiments were performed using human gastric epithelial cells isolated from gastric biopsy tissue taken at upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Primary cultures of human gastric epithelial cells, when exposed to broth-culture supernatant from a vacuolating cytotoxin-positive H pylori strain, were shown to form cytoplasmic vacuoles. Preexposing H pylori brothculture supernatant to sucralfate reduced vacuole formation in human gastric epithelial cells; however, preexposure of H pylori broth-culture supernatant to aluminum hydroxide or sucrose octasulfate did not reduce vacuolation in human gastric epithelial cells. H pylori binding to human gastric epithelial cells was significantly reduced when H pylori was exposed to sucralfate prior to incubating the bacterium with human gastric epithelial cells. These data show that sucralfate, but not its two major components, reduces the toxicity of an H pylori-produced cytotoxin (VacA) and decreases H pylori adherence to human gastric epithelial cells. This reduction in H pylori cytotoxicity may contribute to sucralfate's ulcerhealing properties and to the lower ulcer recurrence rates seen in patients treated with this medication.

Adherence of Helicobacter pylori to cultured human gastric epithelial cells.

Experiments were performed to demonstrate that adherence of Helicobacter pylori to gastric epithelial cells causes alterations in the cell cytoskeleton. H. pylori intimately attached to cultured human gastric epithelial cells on small cellular projections, while there was no intimate association of H. pylori with cultured human esophageal epithelial cells. Fluorescein-conjugated phalloidin staining of gastric epithelial cells showed that H. pylori adherence stimulated actin polymerization; this stimulation was not observed with esophageal cells. Also, this organism's selectivity for gastric mucosa was supported by rare binding of bacteria to esophageal epithelial cells and gastric fibroblasts.