Original ContributionsBarrett's esophagus is characterized by expression of gastric-type mucins (MUC5AC, MUC6) and TFF peptides (TFF1 and TFF2), but the risk of carcinoma development may be indicated by the intestinal-type mucin, MUC2*,**
Section snippets
Patients
Tissue samples were retrieved from archives of patients with endoscopic evidence of BE. The biopsy specimens were collected between January 1993 and November 1999 at the University Hospital Leuven, Belgium. BE pathology and H. pylori status in stomach and gastric pathology (based on at least 2 stomach biopsies) were retrieved from clinical records. Based on hematoxylin and eosin staining of sections of the biopsy specimens, tissue samples of 71 patients were divided into 4 groups: nonactively
Patients
The mean age of the patients was 64.5 years (n = 71; range, 22 to 91 years) (Table 2). Note: Sex ratio is indicated (m/f). H. pylori status refers to the presence of the bacterium in antrum biopsy specimens of the patients.H. pylori Negative Positive Noninflamed BE 10 (7/3) 10 (6/4) Actively inflamed BE 8 (7/1) 8 (7/1) BE with ulcer 10 (6/4) 8 (7/1) BE with dysplasia 8 (6/2) 9 (8/1)
Discussion
Our study was the first to investigate 7 protein markers for gastrointestinal secretory phenotypes against a well-defined clinical background representing the early, premalignant stages of BE. When compared to other regions of the gastrointestinal tract, the BE epithelium showed a MUC-type mucin and TFF expression resembling that of normal human stomach epithelium, in which the expression of these MUCs and TFFs has been demonstrated previously.4, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 In BE, MUC5AC
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the pilot work on BE done by Jan-Willem Van Klinken and Jos Boshuizen, which guided our thoughts in the setup of this study. They thank their international colleagues who provided antibodies: G. Offner (BGBM), C. de Bolós (anti-M6.1), A. Giraud (pS2 and hSP), and D.K. Podolsky (HM:169 and WE9).
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Supported by grants from the Netherlands Digestive Diseases Foundation, Irene Foundation, Jan Dekker/Ludgardine Bouman Foundation, and Foundation “De Drie Lichten.”
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Address correspondence and reprint requests to Jan Dekker, Laboratory of Pediatrics, Erasmus University, Rm. EE-15-71A, Dr Molewaterplein 50, 3015 GE Rotterdam, The Netherlands.