Fig. 7: Detection of active caspase-3 and Smac in gastric biopsies from patients infected with H. pylori.

a, c Biopsies of the human stomach were stained for the presence of active caspase-3 (a; using an antibody that recognizes only the cleavage product of caspase-3-activation) and Smac (c) by immunohistochemistry. Shown are representative images from a collection of 36 biopsies from 18 patients (20 antrum, 16 gastric body samples) infected with H. pylori and 17 patients without H. pylori infection (samples are from bariatric surgery) for each of the stains. Scale bar indicates 200 µm for 100x magnification and 100 µm for 400x magnification. Throughout the figure, the red stain identifies a positive antibody reaction. b The gastric biopsies described in a were scored for acute inflammation and correlated to the levels of staining for active caspase-3 (percent positive cells). At least 400 epithelial cells were counted for each biopsy. Each dot represents one biopsy. Sydney score for acute inflammation was calculated as described (Caselli et al., 1990). d, e Biopsies as in (a–c) were subjected to immunohistochemistry using an antibody specific for Smac. A total of 36 biopsies from 18 patients infected with H. pylori (gastric antrum (n = 20) and body (n = 16)) and 17 patients without H. pylori infection (samples are from bariatric surgery) were included as in (a). Smac-positive epithelial cells were scored in pictures taken as high power fields. At least 400 epithelial cells were counted for each biopsy. Sydney scores for acute (d) and chronic (e) inflammation were calculated and were correlated to Smac levels. No significant correlation was observed for acute inflammation in the gastric body or chronic inflammation in the antrum (not shown). Each dot represents one biopsy. f Biopsies of the human stomach were stained for the presence of DNA-damage response phosphorylated ATM by immunohistochemistry. Shown are representative images from a collection of 36 biopsies from 18 patients (20 antrum, 16 gastric body samples) infected with H. pylori for each of the stains. Scale bar indicates 200 µm for 100x magnification and 100 µm for 400x magnification. The gastric biopsies were correlated to the levels of staining for active cspase-3 (percent positive cells). At least 400 epithelial cells were counted for each biopsy. Each dot represents one biopsy. Data information: Bars represent the mean and dots the value of biopsies. Error bars show standard error of mean. Continuous line represents the linear regression of the data values. Interrupted lines represent the 95% confidence interval of linear regression. Ns: p > 0.05, *, p < 0.05, **, p < 0.01. The significance were tested by linear regression analysis (b, d, e, f) or unpaired T-Test (d).