Expression of AQP3 gene in chronic atrophic and chronic superficial gastritis patients

Background: most studies about aquaporin 3 (aqp3) in the gastrointestinal tract were carried out on both in vivo andin vitro. the role of aqp3-mediated water transport in human gastrointestinal tract is still unclear. our aim in this studywas to explore the expression of aqp3 gene in chronic atrophic gastritis (cag) and chronic superficial gastritis (csg)patients and to determine its possible function in the development of gastritis.methods: twenty-two outpatients diagnosed as csg and 12 outpatients diagnosed as cag were selected randomly.ten cases of healthy individuals were selected as normal control group. in all cases, aqp3 gene expression of gastricmucosa was detected by fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (fq-pcr).results: the aqp3 gene expression was significantly higher in gastric mucosa of csg and healthy individuals thanthat in cag (p(less than)o.ol). however, there was no significant difference in the aqp3 gene expression between helicobacterpylori positive patients and helicobacter pylori negative patients (p>0.05).conclusions: aqp3 expression might play certain role in the occurrence and development of gastritis.