Eradication of Helicobacter pylori induces apoptosis and inhibits proliferation of heterotopic proliferative glands in infected Mongolian gerbils

Mongolian gerbils infected with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) develop heterotopic proliferative glands (HPGs) in the glandular stomach submucosa. To investigate the effects of H. pylori eradication on cell turnover in HPGs, three antibiotics, lansoprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin, were administered at 50 or 75 weeks after inoculation of H. pylori, and the stomachs were excised for histological examination at 1, 2, 4, 8 or 25 weeks thereafter. The HPGs were classified into gastric type (G‐type) and others (Gl+I‐type), which included both pure intestinal (I‐type) and gastric‐and‐intestinal mixed type (Gl‐type). Apoptosis and cell proliferation were evaluated by means of TUNEL assay and BrdU labeling, respectively. At 8 weeks post‐eradication, apoptotic indices were significantly increased in the eradication group (G‐type: 2.5%; Gl+I‐type: 7.2%) compared to the non‐eradication group (G‐type: 0.6%; Gl+I‐type: 2.1%: P