Gastric-and-Intestinal Mixed Intestinal Metaplasia Is Irreversible Point with Eradication of Helicobacter pylori

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) represents an important factor in the development of atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia (IM), and gastric cancer. Eradication of H. pylori has been reported to prevent gastric cancer only in cases without atrophy or IM. However, histological changes with eradication have yet to be fully clarified. We evaluated 38 H. pylori-positive cases before and after eradication at the gland level;pyloric glands were classified as showing gastric proper (G) and IM gland types, with the latter including gastric-and-intestinal mixed IM (GI-IM) and solely intestinal IM (I-IM), depending on the remaining gastric phenotypes. On eradication, acute and chronic inflammation attenuated rapidly and gradually, respectively, whereas levels of MUC5AC and MUC6 expression were not markedly altered. Gland width, size of nuclei and cytoplasm and their ratio in surface foveolar epithelium, the number of Ki-67-positive cells and the length of the proliferating zone in each gland were significantly decreased in G glands after eradication compared with those in GI-IM and I-IM. The number of mitotic phase cells, positive for phosphorylated histone H3 at serine 28, was increased in both types of IM compared to that in G glands in the H. pylori-infected state, but unexpectedly remained unchanged with eradication. These results suggest that GI-IM, as the beginning of IM, could represent a histological irreversible point with eradication and be considered as a “histological point of no return”.

Pancreatic mass as an initial manifestation of polyarteritis nodosa:A case report and review of the literature

Classic polyarteritis nodosa(PAN) that targets mediumsized muscular arteries and microscopic polyangiitis(MPA),characterized by inflammation of small-caliber vessels and the presence of circulating myeloperoxidase anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies(MPO-ANCA),are distinct clinicopathological entities of systemic vasculitis.A 66-year-old woman presented with fever,cholestasis and positive MPO-ANCA.Radiological examination showed a pancreatic mass compressing the bile duct.Therefore,we performed pancreatoduodenectomy.Histopathological examination revealed that necrotizing vasculitis predominantly affecting the medium-sized vessels,spared arterioles or capillaries in the pancreas,a finding consistent with PAN.Unexpectedly,renal biopsy revealed small-caliber vasculitis and glomerulonephritis,supporting MPA.The initial manifestation of a pancreatic mass associated with vasculitis has only been reported in 7 articles.Its diagnosis is challenging because no reliable clinico-radiological findings have been observed.Clinicians should be aware of such cases and early diagnosis followed by immunosuppression is mandatory.Our findings may reflect a polyangiitis overlap syndrome coexisting between pancreatic PAN and renal MPA.