Ultrastructure of the Gastric Mucosa in Healthy Human Subjects and in Patients with Pernicious Anaemia

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Abstract
The fine structure of the gastric mucosa was studied in 7 patients with pernicious anemia and the changes observed were compared with the electron microscopic pattern of the normal gastric mucosa. Most prominent changes include a chronic inflammatory infiltration, metaplasia of the surface epithelial cells to an intestinal type, atrophy and disintegration of the cells and absence of the parietal cells. Gross alterations were met with in the zymogen cells: focal areas of high density in variable-sized secretory granules which show an irregularly tortuous surface membrane, vacuolization of the cytoplasm, and foci of nuclear chromatin bordering on the nuclear membrane.