PARIETAL-CELL ANTIBODIES IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING GASTRIC SURGERY

Preoperative and serial postoperative specimens of serum from 51 patients undergoing gastric surgery for various pathological conditions were examined for antibodies to gastric parietal cells (P.C.A.), using the immunofluorescent “sandwich ” technique. In no case were circulating P.C.A. detected postoperatively that had not been found in the preoperative specimen. The incidence of P.C.A. was below the normal range for the age and sex of the patients, but 2 of 22 (9%) patients with gastric cancer showed circulating P.C.A. The failure to demonstrate circulating parietal-cell antibodies in serial specimens of serum taken from patients who had undergone gastric surgery does not support the hypothesis that autoimmunization is the result of damage to the gastric mucosa. © 1968, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.