Serum micronutrient levels in relation to gastric pathology.

As part of an ongoing cohort study of gastric cancer precursors in Nariño, Colombia, blood levels of ascorbic acid, vitamin E, retinol, pre-albumin, retinol binding protein and carotenoids were measured and correlated with histopathologic findings of gastric biopsies. Carotene levels in both sexes and vitamin E levels in males were significantly lower in subjects with gastric dysplasia than in subjects with normal mucosa and subjects with less advanced gastric lesions (chronic atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia). No other significant correlations were found.