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Introduction: A recent consensus meeting (RE.GA.IN) addressed "host-related, low-prevalence gastritis": eosinophilic (EoG), lymphocytic (Hp-pos&#95;LyG and Hp-neg&#95;LyG), collagenous (CollG), and granulomatous gastritis (GrG). Our study evaluates their clinico-epidemiological characteristics., Materials and Methods: We extracted all patients with a diagnosis of EoG, LyG, CollG, and GrG from a clinicopathological database and compared their demographics, clinical and endoscopic characteristics, associated conditions, and clinical awareness to those of all other subjects in the database (controls)., Results: There were 1,781,005 unique patients (median age 57 years; 55.7 % female). Hispanics were overrepresented amongst those with Hp-pos&#95;LyG. Subjects with GrG had a high prevalence of erosions and ulcers. Clinical awareness of these conditions was dismal (<1:10,000 patients). Some clinical manifestations were more common in patients with certain gastritides (e.g., vomiting and diarrhea in CollG; anemia in LyG), but none were sufficiently distinctive to suggest a clinical diagnosis. EoG was associated with EoE; LyG had a strong association with celiac disease; CollG with microscopic colitis; and GrG with Crohn disease., Conclusions: The diagnosis of these gastritides (between <1: in 1,000 and 1 in 5000 subjects) rests on histopathology. They remain poorly characterized and clinically neglected. Yet, their associations may herald other conditions: eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGID), celiac, and Crohn disease. Patients might benefit from increased detection and characterization., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest None., (Copyright © 2024 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

It is not known whether esophageal mast cells may be a cause of unexplained esophageal symptoms. We aimed to determine the prevalence of esophageal mastocytosis in patients without other underlying causes of symptoms and assess the relationship between symptoms and mast cells. In this retrospective study, we identified adults with esophageal symptoms, a normal endoscopy, normal esophageal biopsies, and no definitive diagnosis during clinical evaluation. We quantified mast cell density (mast cells/mm 2 ) in archived esophageal biopsies using tryptase immunohistochemistry, and compared mast cell levels by clinical features and physiologic testing. In the 87 patients identified (mean age 37, 72% female, 63% white, 92% non-Hispanic), common symptoms were dysphagia (76%), heartburn (71%), and chest pain (25%). Overall, the mean esophageal epithelial mast cell count was 83.0 ± 51.8 mast cells/mm 2 ; 60% of patients had ≥ 60 mast/mm 2 , and 17% had ≥ 120 masts/mm 2 . There were no differences in mast cell counts by type of esophageal testing. Mast cell levels did not differ significantly by type of symptoms, atopic status, medications, smoking status, or alcohol use. There were also no major differences in clinical characteristics by mast cell quartiles or thresholds. In conclusion, esophageal mast cell infiltration was common in patients with symptoms unexplained by prior testing, and levels were higher than previously published values for patients with no underlying esophageal condition. Mast cell esophagitis could be a novel cause of unexplained esophageal symptoms in a subset of patients, though it reamins to be determined if such patients benefit from mast cell-targeted treatment., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

At the end of the last century, a far-sighted 'working party' held in Sydney, Australia addressed the clinicopathological issues related to gastric inflammatory diseases. A few years later, an international conference held in Houston, Texas, USA critically updated the seminal Sydney classification. In line with these initiatives, Kyoto Global Consensus Report, flanked by the Maastricht-Florence conferences, added new clinical evidence to the gastritis clinicopathological puzzle.The most relevant topics related to the gastric inflammatory diseases have been addressed by the Real-world Gastritis Initiative (RE.GA.IN.), from disease definitions to the clinical diagnosis and prognosis. This paper reports the conclusions of the RE.GA.IN. consensus process, which culminated in Venice in November 2022 after more than 8 months of intense global scientific deliberations. A forum of gastritis scholars from five continents participated in the multidisciplinary RE.GA.IN. consensus. After lively debates on the most controversial aspects of the gastritis spectrum, the RE.GA.IN. Faculty amalgamated complementary knowledge to distil patient-centred, evidence-based statements to assist health professionals in their real-world clinical practice. The sections of this report focus on: the epidemiology of gastritis; Helicobacter pylori as dominant aetiology of environmental gastritis and as the most important determinant of the gastric oncogenetic field; the evolving knowledge on gastric autoimmunity; the clinicopathological relevance of gastric microbiota; the new diagnostic horizons of endoscopy; and the clinical priority of histologically reporting gastritis in terms of staging. The ultimate goal of RE.GA.IN. was and remains the promotion of further improvement in the clinical management of patients with gastritis., Competing Interests: Competing interests: DSB has served as speaker for Abbott, AstraZeneca, Alfasigma, Biocodex, Pfizer, Reckitt Benckiser, Takeda, KRKA, PRO.MED.CS Praha and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. LGC has served as speaker for Takeda and EMS. FDM has served as consultant for Biohit Healthcare. MD-R has served as consultant for Roche and Medtronic. DD has served as consultant for Reckits, Dr Reddy’s, Zentiva, AbbVie, Terapia and Takeda. EME-O is Editor of Gut. EJK is member of the Editorial Board of Gut. MLe has served as research consultant for Eiken Chemical. MLi has served as speaker for Abbott, AstraZeneca, Alfasigma, Biocodex, KRKA and PRO.MED.CS Praha. TM-B received research grants from: AstraZeneca, BMS, Biohit and Fujirebio; and has been involved in congresses and educational supported by AAA, AstraZeneca, MSD, BMS, Viatris and Pierre Fabre. FM has served as consultant for Phathom and Biocodex. ES has served as speaker for AbbVie, Agave, AGPharma, Alfasigma, Aurora Pharma, CaDiGroup, Celltrion, Dr Falk, EG Stada Group, Fenix Pharma, Fresenius Kabi, Galapagos, Janssen, JB Pharmaceuticals, Innovamedica/Adacyte, Malesci, Mayoly Biohealth, Omega Pharma, Pfizer, Reckitt Benckiser, Sandoz, SILA, Sofar, Takeda, Tillots and Unifarco; has served as consultant for AbbVie, Agave, Alfasigma, Biogen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celltrion, Diadema Farmaceutici, Dr Falk, Fenix Pharma, Fresenius Kabi, Janssen, JB Pharmaceuticals, Merck & Co, Nestlè, Reckitt Benckiser, Regeneron, Sanofi, SILA, Sofar, Synformulas, Takeda and Unifarco; and has received research support from Pfizer, Reckitt Benckiser, SILA, Sofar, Unifarco and Zeta Farmaceutici. NS has served as speaker for Astellas and consultant for Bristol-Myers Squibb. KS has served as consultant for Fuji Film Co. NU has served as speaker for lectures for: Olympus Co, Fuji Film Co, Boston Scientific Japan, Daiichi-Sankyo Co, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, EA Pharma Co, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co, AstraZeneca Co, Miyarisan Pharmaceutical Co and AI Medical Service Co., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Context.—: Mast cells are essential components of the immune system and play crucial pathogenetic roles in several digestive diseases, including mastocytic enterocolitis and eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders. Pathologists have rarely been asked to evaluate the distribution and density of mast cells in gastrointestinal (GI) biopsy specimens. However, such requests are becoming more common because of an increasing awareness of the role of mast cells in functional GI disease and in both esophageal and nonesophageal eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders., Objective.—: To provide pathologists with tools to incorporate the assessment of mast cells in the evaluation of esophageal, gastric, and intestinal specimens by developing a systematic approach to their evaluation, counting, and reporting., Design.—: This study consisted of a review of the literature followed by multiple consensus sessions to decide where to count mast cells and what a countable mast cell is., Results.—: We reviewed 135 papers addressing the content of mast cells in the digestive tract, selected 21 that detailed how cells were counted (microscope lens, area of high-power fields, locations evaluated, type of cells considered as countable), and summarized their data in a table. Then, drawing from both the acceptable literature and our own extensive experience, we reached a tentative consensus on: (1) the normal numbers in the different segments of the GI tract; (2) the morphology of countable mast cells; and (3) the locations and strategies for counting them., Conclusions.—: The result is a set of suggestions for reporting mast cell counts, their distribution, and their location in a way clinicians can understand and use for management decisions., (© 2024 College of American Pathologists.)

Introduction: Consensus is lacking regarding the number of eosinophils (eos) required for the diagnosis of eosinophilic gastritis (EoG) and eosinophilic duodenitis (EoD). In addition, thresholds that require multiple high-power fields (HPFs) may not be practical for clinical use, resulting in delayed or missed diagnoses. This pooled analysis of 4 prospective studies assessed thresholds for multiple and single HPFs used to diagnose EoG and EoD., Methods: Studies included the phase 2 ENIGMA1, the phase 3 ENIGMA2, an EoG/EoD prevalence study and a healthy volunteer study. Eos were quantified in the epithelium and lamina propria for controls and symptomatic participants. Symptomatic participants were further divided by histologic diagnosis of EoG/EoD. Peak eos counts were assessed, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was analyzed to identify eos cutoffs for detection of EoG/EoD using the Youden index and sensitivity and specificity equality approaches., Results: Based on the highest specificity analysis in 740 patients, the optimal eos threshold was determined to be 20 eos/HPF in 5 gastric HPFs for EoG (71% sensitivity and 94% specificity) and 33 eos/HPF in 3 duodenal HPFs for EoD (49% sensitivity and 100% specificity). For single-field analysis, the optimal eos thresholds were 33 eos/HPF (EoG) and 37 eos/HPF (EoD), both corresponding to 93% sensitivity and 93% specificity., Discussion: Highly specific single gastric and duodenal HPF thresholds may have more clinical applicability than thresholds requiring multiple HPFs and could better facilitate development of practical histopathologic guidelines to aid pathologists and clinicians in the detection and diagnosis of EoG and/or EoD., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The American College of Gastroenterology.)