Comparison of gene expression profiles in atrophic and non-atrophic gastritis

Objective Atrophic gastritis, as a pre-cancerous condition of gastric cancer, is developed from non-atrophic gastritis.The aims of this study was to compare the gene expression profiles between atrophic gastritis and non-atrophic gastritis using cDNA microarray and to explore the molecular mechanisms in the development of atrophic gastritis. Methods Endoscopy and biopsy were performed consecutively in 227 patients (143 male, 84 female, age range between 16-72 years, with average age 48.6 years). Diagnosis of non-atrophic gastritis and atrophic gastritis was made according to histological examination, and 120 patients were in non-atrophic group and 107 in atrophic group. The total RNA was extracted from the biopsy specimens of two groups with Trizol reagent. cDNA microarray consisting 8 464 human genes (HGEC-80s kit) was used, and labeled cDNA with fluorescence probes were hybridized to microarray, and then the comparison of gene expression profiles was made between atrophic and non-atrophic gastritis. Results It was identified that in gene expression profiles of atrophic gastritis there were 165 genes showing a greater than 2-fold increase and 460 genes showing a greater than 50% decrease as compared to non-atrophic gastritis. RT-PCR analysis revealed similar results as in DNA microarray. Conclusions There is different expression in many genes between the gastric mucosal cells of non-atrophic and atrophic gastritis mucosa. Many genes expression profiles are involved in atrophic gastritis that would be of help in further understanding the development of atrophic gastritis.