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Review
. 2016 Oct;166(13-14):424-430.
doi: 10.1007/s10354-016-0515-5. Epub 2016 Sep 26.

Autoimmune gastritis

Stefanie Kulnigg-Dabsch  1
Affiliations
Review

Autoimmune gastritis

Stefanie Kulnigg-Dabsch. Wien Med Wochenschr. 2016 Oct.

Abstract
in English, German

Autoimmune gastritis is a chronic inflammatory disease with destruction of parietal cells of the corpus and fundus of the stomach. The known consequence is vitamin B12 deficiency and, consequently, pernicious anemia. However, loss of parietal cells reduces secretion of gastric acid which is also required for absorption of inorganic iron; thus, iron deficiency is commonly found in patients with autoimmune gastritis. This usually precedes vitamin B12 deficiency and is found mainly in young women. Patients with chronic iron deficiency, especially those refractory to oral iron therapy, should therefore be evaluated for the presence of autoimmune gastritis.

Die Autoimmungastritis ist eine chronisch-entzündliche Erkrankung mit Verlust der Parietalzellen im Corpus und Fundus des Magens. Bekannte Folgen sind ein Vitamin-B12-Mangel und folglich eine perniziöse Anämie. Der Verlust der Parietalzellen führt jedoch auch zu einer Reduktion der Magensäure, die für die Aufnahme von anorganischem Eisen benötigt wird. Daher ist Eisenmangel eine häufige Diagnose bei Patienten mit Autoimmungastritis. Oft findet man diesen vor dem Auftreten eines Vitamin-B12-Mangels, insbesondere bei jüngeren Frauen. Patienten mit chronischem Eisenmangel sollten daher auf Marker einer Autoimmungastritis untersucht werden, vor allem wenn sie nicht auf eine orale Eisensubstitution ansprechen.

Keywords: Autoimmune gastritis; Chronic atrophic gastritis; Gastric cancer; Iron deficiency; Vitamin B 12 deficiency.

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Conflict of interest statement

Compliance with ethical guidelinesConflict of interestS. Kulnigg-Dabsch declares that she has no competing interests.Ethical standardsThis article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Endoscopic picture of autoimmune gastritis. a Incipient atrophy of corpus. b Mucous covering of gastric mucosa, pseudopolyps in corpus and fundus
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Histologic picture of end stage autoimmune gastritis (hematoxylin and eosin staining, X200). a Total loss of parietal cells with moderate inflammatory cells consisting of mainly mononuclear cells but also eosinophil granulocytes. b Foveola and gland bodies with total loss of parietal cells and only discrete inflammatory reaction
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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