Mucosal macrophage inflammatory protein-1α levels are increased in Helicobacter pylori infection

We examined the relationship between the levels of macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) in organ cultures of antral mucosal tissues, background gastroduodenal diseases, and grades of histologic gastritis. Significantly higher levels of MIP-1 alpha and IL-8 were detected in patients with H. pylori infection than in those without infection. In H. pylori-positive patients, mucosal specimens from patients with peptic ulcer disease showed higher levels of MIP-1 alpha and IL-8 than the specimens obtained from patients with erosive gastritis or those from endoscopically normal mucosa, and this was particularly pronounced in patients with duodenal ulcer. There were positive correlations between MLP-1 alpha and IL-8 levels and histologic grades of activity, inflammation, and H. pylori density as defined by the Sydney system. However, the degree of association with the inflammatory cell count was different between these two chemokines. MIP-1 alpha levels had a stronger association with mononuclear cells than with neutrophils, whereas IL-8 levels showed an association with neutrophils and mononuclear cells to an almost equal degree. These results suggest that MIP-1 alpha and IL-8 may play important roles as inflammatory mediators in the pathogenesis of histologically proven H. pylori-associated gastritis.