P0085 Serum pepsinogen I and II levels and relationship with serum ghrelin in Iranian patients with various upper gastrointestinal diseases

Background Gastric cancer is the most common cancer in Zanjan province. With the aim of finding a way to screen for the disease, serum ghrelin and pepsinogen I to II ratio (pepI/II) were measured and compared in patients with various upper gastrointestinal diseases. Methods In this cross-sectional study of 308 patients with no underlying disease who underwent endoscopy in Zanjan Valiasr Hospital in 2013, blood samples were taken to measure ghrelin and pepsinogen I and II. Biopsies were taken from abnormal endoscopic lesions. Pepsinogen and ghrelin were measured by ELISA. Data were analysed using the statistical software SPSS (ANOVA and non-parametric tests). Findings The participants (162 [52.6%] men and 146 [47.4%] women) were divided into three groups: 178 (57.8%) healthy, 85 (27.6%) benign, and 45 (14.6 %) malignant cases. Mean pepI/II was 8.94 in the normal group, 7.86 in the benign group, and 4.74 in the malignant group ( p p p  = 0.014, respectively). Interpretation Ghrelin and pepI/II have an inverse relationship with the prevalence of gastric and oesophageal cancers, but there is no significant correlation between ghrelin and pepI/II themselves. Due to the lower levels of ghrelin and pepI/II in men, gender was recognised as a confounding factor, so further studies are needed.