Evaluation of Lineage Changes in the Gastric Mucosa Following Infection With Helicobacter pylori and Specified Intestinal Flora in INS-GAS Mice

Gastric adenocarcinoma develops in metaplastic mucosa associated with Helicobacter pylori infection in the stomach. We have sought to evaluate the precise lineage changes in the stomachs of insulin-gastrin (INS-GAS) mice infected with H. pylori and/or intestinal flora (Altered Schaedler's Flora; ASF). Stomachs from groups infected with H. pylori contained progressive spasmolytic polypeptide-expressing metaplasia (SPEM) compared with germ-free and mice infected with ASF alone. The overall phenotype of the H. pylori-infected mice was dominated by Ulex europaeus lectin (UEAI)-positive foveolar hyperplasia that was distinct from GSII/CD44v9-positive SPEM. However, in the mice with H. pylori co-infected with ASF, we identified a subpopulation of UEAI-positive foveolar cells that co-expressed intestinal mucin 4 (MUC4). These regions of foveolar cells were variably positive for CD44v9 as well as TFF3. Interestingly, an intravascular lesion identified in a dual H. pylori/ASF-infected mouse expressed both UEAI and Muc4. Finally, we identified an increase in the number of tuft cells within the mucosa of H. pylori-infected groups. Our findings suggest that H. pylori infection promotes foveolar hyperplasia as well as metaplasia, while co-infection may promote progressive foveolar and metaplastic lesions as well as dysplasia. Grading of gastric lesions in mice as preneoplastic requires multiple immunostaining markers to assign lineage derivation and behavior.