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This test is useful for detecting H. pylori infection in children of all ages, and is a good alternative for screening studies in developing countries with elevated prevalence, due to its being fast, noninvasive, inexpensive, and easy to carry out.

Peritoneal morphological changes seem to be related to dialysis solutions bioincompatibility and to infections, but the uremic milieu per se may also contribute to peritoneal changes. The influence of diabetes and diabetes-associated comorbidities on peritoneal histological changes in the pre-dialysis stage have been insufficiently studied. The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of diabetes and serum albumin levels on peritoneal histology and certain clinical variables such as peritoneal permeability, technique failure, and general mortality in patients starting peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment. Eighteen PD patients without diabetes (uremic non-diabetic group, U-ND) and 65 with diabetes (uremic diabetic group, U-D) were studied prospectively. Clinical and biochemical variables were registered, and a parietal peritoneum biopsy was obtained at the time of the peritoneal catheter placement. Peritoneal histology was evaluated by light microscopy and immunohistochemistry. A control group of 15 non-uremic, non-diabetic (NU-ND) patients who underwent non-complicated elective abdominal surgery was also studied and used as control. The proportion of patients with peritoneal morphological changes as evaluated by light microscopy was higher in the two groups of uremic patients than in the control. The U-D group had higher mesothelial loss (40.9 vs 29.4%), higher mesothelial basement membrane thickening (45.5 vs 23.5%), higher proportion of vascular wall thickening/sclerosis (39.7 vs 11.1%), and higher proportion of inflammatory infiltrate (45.4 vs 23.6%) than the U-ND group. Uremic patients had lower density of mesothelial cells and higher density of inflammatory cells than the control, as evaluated by immunohistochemistry. These changes were even more striking in the U-D group than in the U-ND group. On the other hand, inflammatory infiltration to the peritoneum, mesothelial cell loss, and mesothelial basement membrane thickening were associated with higher technique failure and mortality. However, when the serum albumin level was introduced into the model, the aforementioned associations became nonsignificant. In conclusion, uremia and diabetes were associated with important peritoneal histological changes before starting PD treatment. Diabetes associated with uremia was more strongly related to the peritoneal changes than uremia per se. Hypoalbuminemia and peritoneal inflammatory infiltrate were markedly associated with technique failure and mortality in patients starting PD treatment.

The objective of this study was to analyze the histopathological patterns of inflammation, distribution, severity, and degree of gastric mucosa of Helicobacter pylori (Hp)-infected children in Northern Mexico, as well as the correlation between colonization density and inflammation intensity. We carried out a cross-sectional study of gastric biopsies performed on children ranging from 2 to 17 years of age who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for diverse gastroduodenal disorders. This study includes only children who were found to be Hp carriers, with positive results for tests of Hp antigens in feces and in gastric biopsy studies. We studied 107 patients (age 8.2 ± 3.7 years). In 47.7% of patients, the density of Hp colonization was low; only 21.5% had a marked density. Mononuclear leukocyte infiltration showed a similar distribution. Thirty-seven percent of patients had follicular gastritis. An acute inflammatory response was absent in 65% and mild in 20.6% of patients. When inflammation was present, it was primarily located in the antrum (79%). There were no cases of intestinal metaplasia or atrophy. A link was found between Hp density and age, infiltration by mononuclear cells, the presence of follicular gastritis, and the level of neutrophil infiltration (P  =  0.001). Despite the high rates of Hp infection in the region, the histopathological findings in these children were mild and were limited primarily to the antral mucosa. These data indicate the need to study the behavior of this disease in children in diverse study populations to provide localized prevention and treatment strategies.

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