Distribution of Chronic Gastropathies and Associated Factors with the Presence of Anti-Gastric Parietal Cell Antibodies in a Cameroonian Population

Background and Aim: Data on autoimmunity is and remains scarce in Central Africa due to the orientation of most research programs on infectious diseases. As of now, the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases in Cameroon is very limited. Anti-gastric parietal cell antibodies (AGPCA) lead to destruction of the gastric wall resulting in atrophy. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of AGPCA and their association with socio-demographic factors in patients suffering from chronic gastropathies.

Methodology: This was a cross- sectional study carried out from March to October 2020, in two hospitals in the city of Douala. The type of gastropathy was determined by endoscopy and autoantibodies were tested by Indirect Immunofluorescence at Centre Pasteur Cameroon. The kit used was Euroimmum Lot F 211117DB, and a fluorescence microscope of the mark Leica DM 1000 was used to observe the reactions. Data was analysed using SPSS 25.0, and a P value of 0.05 was considered as being significant.

Results: 120 patients were enrolled in this study and constituted 57 (47.5%) men and 63 (52.5%) women with a male to female sex ratio of 0.9. The prevalence of AGPCA was 10.8%. The age of the patients who were tested positive to anti-gastric parietal cell antibodies ranged from 21 to 87 years with P value 0.003, and constituted 6 men and 7 women with P value 0.918 and OR 1.063(0.335 – 3.371). The most represented type of gastropathy was gastritis in 6 (46.2%) patients, P value 0.032 with occupation factor. The adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) was 1.414 (0.798 - 2.507) and P value 0.236 for the risk factor age.

Conclusion: The overall prevalence of ACPG in our study was 10.8%. In bivariate analysis, we found associations with age, occupation and type of gastropathy. Although very often present in elderly people, the results obtained in this study are in favor of a more or less homogeneous distribution in the population.