Chronic gastritis and bone mineral density in women.

We conducted a cross-sectional study of bone mineral density in women with Helicobacter pylori gastritis or autoimmune gastritis. Eighty-five patients were enrolled: 24 patients (mean age 55.2 +/- 13.5 years) with autoimmune gastritis, 34 patients (mean age 63.7 +/- 7.3 years) with H. pylori gastritis, and 27 H. pylori-negative patients with normal gastric mucosa (mean age 62.5 +/- 7.0 years). Gastric mucosa was evaluated by histology and immunohistochemistry. Bone mineral density was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Autoimmune gastritis patients presented severe gastric body mucosa atrophy, based on the absence of parietal cells in 15 (62.5%) patients and the presence of only scattered parietal cells in the remaining nine (37.5%) patients. Among the H. pylori gastritis patients, 21 (62%) presented with different degrees of gastric mucosa atrophy. Bone mineral densities (mean +/- SD, g/mm(2)) were not different among patients with autoimmune gastritis and H. pylori gastritis and the controls. Our results suggest that H. pylori-associated gastritis and autoimmune gastritis would not to be risk factors for decreased bone mineral density in women.