Studies on the Phenomenon of Locational Variation in the Speed of Discoloration During the Endoscopic Congo Red Test. The First Report: Quantitative Study of Parietal Cell Populations by Cell Isolation Method

: A quantitative study of parietal cell populations was done using the cell isolation method designed by the authors in order to investigate the cause of the phenomenon of locational variation in the speed of discoloration during the endoscopic Congo red test. The endoscopic Congo red test was performed in three mongrel dogs and five patients with peptic ulcers. In each case, at the time when spotty discoloration was observed, three biopsy specimens were obtained from both the quickly discolored portion (Q) and the slowly discolored portion (S) of the greater curvature of the middle body. After determination of wet weight, the biopsy specimens, having been separated into two groups (the Q-group and the S-group), were digested simultaneously with collagenase and dispose in the same way in each case. The number of parietal cells per microlitre in the obtained cell suspensions were counted using Neubauer's hemocytometer, staining with tetranitroblue tetrazolium. The number of parietal cells per milligram tissue wet weight was calculated for each sample from both groups. The number of parietal cells per milligram wet weight of the quickly discolored portion was 2.0 times (on average) as large as that of the slowly discolored portion in the case of the dogs. In the case of patients, the former was 1.7 times (on average) as large as the latter, with a statistically significant difference. We concluded that the locational variation of the speed of discoloration during the endoscopic Congo red test may be mainly due to the unequal distribution of parietal cells.