Cell Tissue Res

Electron-microscopical evidence for heterogeneity of micronodular argyrophil cell growth in man.

Year 1998
Lamberts R. Creutzfeldt W.
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University of Tubingen, Otfried-Muller-Strasse 10, D-72076 Tubingen, Germany.
Hypergastrinaemia-associated changes of non-antral argyrophil cells in man are of increasing interest, because of the development of potent inhibitors of gastric acid secretion. Using an antibody against chromogranin A, we identified micronodular endocrine cell hyperplasia of the oxyntic mucosa in gastric biopsy specimens of patients with hypergastrinaemia of different backgrounds. Consecutive ultrathin sections were examined at the electron-microscopical level. Endocrine cell types within the (extraepithelial) micronodules closely resembled those in the adjacent mucosa. Micronodules were classified into two groups. The first group was composed of endocrine cells only and predominated in patients with drug-induced hypergastrinaemia and/or chronic gastritis, and in a gastrinoma/MEN I patient. The second group represented "neuroendocrine complexes", showing a close intermingling of non-myelinated nerve fibres with endocrine cells, and was found predominantly in pernicious anaemia. Micronodular argyrophil cell growth in man is therefore heterogeneous and depends on the background of the hypergastrinaemia.

The cell biology of liver fibrogenesis - an imbalance of proliferation, growth arrest and apoptosis of myofibroblasts.

Year 1998
Gressner AM.
Institut fur Klinische Chemie und Pathobiochemie - Zentrallaboratorium, RWTH Universitatsklinikum, Pauwelsstrasse 30, D-52057 Aachen, Germany. gressner@rwth-aachen.de
Fibrosis following liver damage and factors influencing this process are discussed with special reference to hepatic stellate cells and their transformation to myo- fibroblasts.