Exploring Methods for Treating Hypergastrinemia in Patients With Autoimmune Gastritis

February 15, 2024 updated by: Jianning Yao

Exploring Methods for Treating Hypergastrinemia in Patients With Autoimmune Gastritis: A Prospective Study.

Autoimmune atrophic gastritis (AAG) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease that primarily affects the gastric body and fundus while sparing the antrum. Its characteristics include destruction of gastric wall cells, loss of intrinsic factors, and atrophy of the gastric mucosa. Endoscopic examination reveals features of reverse atrophy, with significant atrophy in the gastric body and fundus, appearing as a mosaic of red and white patches. Currently, AAG is believed to result from a pathological CD4+ T-cell-mediated autoimmune response against the gastric H+/K+-ATPase. CD4+ T lymphocytes target the parietal cells' H+/K+-ATPase, stimulating plasma cells to secrete autoantibodies, including parietal cell antibodies (PCA) and intrinsic factor antibodies (IFA). The former plays a key role in parietal cell destruction and glandular atrophy. AAG is considered a premalignant condition, with the potential development of gastric dysplasia, cancer, and type 1 gastric neuroendocrine tumours (type 1 g-NET).

Gastric neuroendocrine tumors (g-NETs), also known as gastric carcinoids, account for approximately 23% of gastrointestinal and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Clinically, g-NETs are mainly classified into three types. Type III is typically sporadic tumors associated with normal gastrin levels and poor prognosis. Although type 1 g-NETs caused by AAG are usually well-differentiated, studies have reported that 8%-23% of type 1 g-NETs extending into the deep submucosal layer may metastasize to regional lymph nodes or even to the liver. Furthermore, 3% of patients may develop neuroendocrine carcinoma, highlighting the need for appropriate attention.

Due to the destruction of gastric glands (including parietal and chief cells) in AAG patients, there is a deficiency in intrinsic factor, gastric acid, and a decrease in pepsinogen I (PG-I) levels. Insufficient gastric acid secretion leads to a compensatory increase in gastrin secretion by G cells in the gastric antrum, which acts on receptors present in enterochromaffin-like cells (ECL) in the gastric body and fundus, promoting ECL cell proliferation. Prolonged stimulation by hypergastrinemia can result in the development of ECL cell tumors, namely type 1 g-NETs. Considering the close association between type 1 g-NETs and AAG, primarily related to hypergastrinemia resulting from reduced gastric acid secretion, it is hypothesized that supplementation with gastric acid could provide negative feedback regulation of gastrin, reducing the risk of type 1 g-NET development in AAG patients. This study aims to investigate the impact of oral apple cider vinegar on gastrin levels in AAG patients, thus exploring a simple and cost-effective method to reduce the risk of type 1 g-NETs in AAG patients.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Autoimmune atrophic gastritis (AAG) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease that primarily affects the gastric body and fundus while sparing the antrum. Its characteristics include destruction of gastric wall cells, loss of intrinsic factors, and atrophy of the gastric mucosa. Endoscopic examination reveals features of reverse atrophy, with significant atrophy in the gastric body and fundus, appearing as a mosaic of red and white patches, predominantly white, with flattened and partially disappearing folds and visible blood vessels. Currently, AAG is believed to result from a pathological CD4+ T-cell-mediated autoimmune response against the gastric H+/K+-ATPase. CD4+ T lymphocytes target the parietal cells' H+/K+-ATPase, stimulating plasma cells to secrete autoantibodies, including parietal cell antibodies (PCA) and intrinsic factor antibodies (IFA). The former plays a key role in parietal cell destruction and glandular atrophy, while the latter is the main mechanism underlying vitamin B12 deficiency and pernicious anaemia. AAG is considered a premalignant condition, with the potential development of gastric dysplasia, cancer, and type 1 gastric neuroendocrine tumours (type 1 g-NET).

Gastric neuroendocrine tumors (g-NETs), also known as gastric carcinoids, account for approximately 23% of gastrointestinal and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Clinically, g-NETs are mainly classified into three types. Type I and type II are associated with chronic atrophic autoimmune gastritis[9] and gastrinoma-related Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES) leading to hypergastrinemia, while type III is typically sporadic tumors associated with normal gastrin levels and poor prognosis. Although type 1 g-NETs caused by AAG are usually well-differentiated, studies have reported that 8%-23% of type 1 g-NETs extending into the deep submucosal layer may metastasize to regional lymph nodes or even to the liver. Furthermore, 3% of patients may develop neuroendocrine carcinoma, highlighting the need for appropriate attention.

Due to the destruction of gastric glands (including parietal and chief cells) in AAG patients, there is a deficiency in intrinsic factor, gastric acid, and a decrease in pepsinogen I (PG-I) levels. Insufficient gastric acid secretion leads to a compensatory increase in gastrin secretion by G cells in the gastric antrum, which acts on receptors present in enterochromaffin-like cells (ECL) in the gastric body and fundus, promoting ECL cell proliferation. Prolonged stimulation by hypergastrinemia can result in the development of ECL cell tumors, namely type 1 g-NETs. Considering the close association between type 1 g-NETs and AAG, primarily related to hypergastrinemia resulting from reduced gastric acid secretion, it is hypothesized that supplementation with gastric acid could provide negative feedback regulation of gastrin, reducing the risk of type 1 g-NET development in AAG patients. This study aims to investigate the impact of oral apple cider vinegar on gastrin levels in AAG patients, thus exploring a simple and cost-effective method to reduce the risk of type 1 g-NETs in AAG patients.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

150

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

- 1) Patients diagnosed with autoimmune atrophic gastritis at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, using the diagnostic criteria from the "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Gastritis in China (2022, Shanghai)" for the diagnosis of atrophic gastritis, combined with serum gastrin, PCA, or IFA for the diagnosis of autoimmune atrophic gastritis.

2) Patients who have signed the informed consent form for the clinical trial.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • 1) Patients with vinegar allergies. 2) Patients with gastric ulcers, gastroesophageal reflux disease, or cholelithiasis, as the administration of acid agents may worsen the condition or cause discomfort.

    3) Patients with gastrinomas or other conditions that can cause elevated gastrin levels, apart from autoimmune atrophic gastritis.

    4) Patients who are unable to provide informed consent or sign the informed consent form.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Group A
receives only oral administration of a compound digestive enzyme capsule, with one capsule taken three times a day.
Other: oral administration of a compound digestive enzyme capsule
receives only oral administration of a compound digestive enzyme capsule, with one capsule taken three times a day.
Experimental: Group B
receives only oral administration of apple cider vinegar, with 15ml of apple cider vinegar with an acidity of ≥3.5g/100ml consumed after each meal.
Other: oral administration of apple cider vinegar
receives only oral administration of apple cider vinegar, with 15ml of apple cider vinegar with an acidity of ≥3.5g/100ml consumed after each meal.
Experimental: Group C
receives oral administration of both the compound digestive enzyme capsule and apple cider vinegar simultaneously.
Other: oral administration of both the compound digestive enzyme capsule and apple cider vinegar
receives oral administration of both the compound digestive enzyme capsule and apple cider vinegar simultaneously.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
serum gastrin levels
Time Frame: 3 months
Comparison of serum gastrin levels before and after the trial within each group.
3 months
serum gastrin levels
Time Frame: 3 months
Comparison of the differences in serum gastrin levels between the post-trial and pre-trial measurements among the groups.
3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
the adverse reaction rates
Time Frame: 3 months
Adverse reaction rate = Number of patients with adverse reactions in each group / Number of patients examined in each group.
3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Jianning Yao

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

March 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 31, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 15, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 15, 2024

First Posted (Estimated)

February 22, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

February 22, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 15, 2024

Last Verified

February 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2024-KY-0146-001

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Autoimmune Gastritis

Clinical Trials on oral administration of a compound digestive enzyme capsule

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Philippines

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe