Background: Gastric autoantibodies are common in Helicobacter pylori-infected adults, and the presence of these antibodies is associated with atrophic gastritis. The role of H. pylori in the autoimmune type of atrophic gastritis is unresolved, and it is not known at what stage the autoantibodies appear in serum during H. pylori infection. Therefore, we screened children with and without H. pylori infection for gastric parietal cell antibodies.
Methods: Seventy-one children with H. pylori infection verified by examination of gastric biopsy specimens (mean age, 9.4 years), 8 children with positive serology but negative histology for H. pylori (mean age, 11.6 years), and 130 children with negative serology for H. pylori (mean age, 7.7 years) were screened for the presence of gastric parietal cell antibodies in serum by indirect immunofluorescence. In addition, 61 children with celiac disease (mean age, 7.1 years) were screened for gastric parietal cell antibodies and H. pylori antibodies.
Results: None of the children with H. pylori infection had gastric parietal cell antibodies in serum. Only three positive parietal cell antibody reactions were found: a 14-year-old boy with positive serology for H. pylori but no other signs of infection (titer 5000), a 14-year-old girl with tuberculosis (titer 1250, seronegative for H. pylori) and a 10-year-old girl with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (titer 6250, seronegative for H. pylori).
Conclusions: Although gastric autoantibodies are often found in adults with chronic H. pylori gastritis, it seems that H. pylori-infected children are not positive for gastric parietal cell antibodies. It remains to be studied in which H. pylori infections and at what stages gastric autoantibodies appear.