PCNA/cyclin defined proliferative activity of epithelial cells in normal gastric mucosa and in chronic gastritis.

Proliferative activity - as measured by the length of proliferation zone and the proliferation index - was studied in 106 gastric biopsies including 27 biopsies with normal mucosa, 53 with chronic superficial gastritis and 26 with chronic atrophic gastritis. Proliferative activity was assessed with PCNA/cyclin monoclonal antibodies and immunohistochemistry in alcohol fixed paraffin embedded sections. Significantly increased mean proliferation index was found in chronic atrophic gastritis as compared with chronic superficial gastritis and normal mucosa. The PCNA/cyclin index that can easily be measured in paraffin embedded sections can be included as an additional criterion to existing histopathologic classifications of gastritis.