Background: The Trefoil factor family 1 (TFF1), one of the trefoil peptides, has been considered to play protective and reparative roles of experimentally induced ulcers in the stomach. However, the alteration of the TFF1 mRNA in the non-ulcerated areas of living human gastric mucosa in gastric ulcer is not well known. We examined TFF1 gene expression at non-ulcerated sites during the healing of a gastric ulcer by semiquantitative determination of the TFF1 mRNA.
Methods: Gastric mucosal biopsy specimens were taken before and after the healing of the gastric ulcer from seven consecutive patients and from seven patients diagnosed with non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD). The relative value of TFF1 mRNA (RTFF1) was calculated by the single tube method of polymerase chain reaction (ST-PCR) and Southern hybridization. Immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies was performed to confirm the presence of the TFF1 peptide. The status of Helicobacter pylori and the severity of gastritis were investigated simultaneously.
Results: The mean relative values of TFF1 mRNA at both the gastric angle (RTFF1AS) and the gastric body (RTFF1BS) of patients with gastric ulcers at the healed stage were significantly higher than those at the open stage (P< 0.05). The mean RTFF1AS at both the open and healed stages were lower than those of RTFF1BS at the open and healed stages, respectively, The mean RTFF1B at the open stage was lower than that in NUD (not significant), but the mean of RTFF1B at the healed stage was significantly higher than that in NUD. The RTFF1AS and RTFF1BS of all patients did not correlate with H. pylori status nor with the severity of gastritis. The induction of TFF1 mRNA at the non-ulcerated background sites seemed not to be related to the status of H. pylori or to the severity of gastritis.
Conclusions: These results suggest that the increased levels TFF1 mRNA during the healing of gastric ulcers might be closely related to the protection and the cell differentiation at the non-ulcerated areas of living human gastric mucosa.