Study of sEGF level in chronic atrophic gastritis with either Chinese traditional medicine or western medicine

This study was aimed to investigate the level of sEGF in CAG with different therapies of either Chinese traditional medicine or western medicine. Patients were divided into spleen-reinforcing I, spleen-reinforcing II, dampness-resolving and western medicine group by Differentiation Syndrome. Healthy volunteers acted as controls. The sEGF was investigated before and after treatment. The level of sEGF in CAG was higher than that in control group(P < 0.01). In patients of spleen-reinforcing I group and spleen-reinforcing II group, the symptoms and pathological manifestations were improved dramatically (P < 0.01) and sEGF dropped markedly after treatment(P < 0.01 and P < 0.05). The level of sEGF in the dampness-resolving group increased after treatment (P < 0.05). But the level of sEGF in the western-medicine group dropped a little after treatment (P > 0.05). The inflammation of gastric mucosa may cause the elevation of sEGF in CAG reflectively. After being effectively treated with Chinese traditional medicine, the symptoms of CAG improved simultaneously with the return of sEGF. SEGF is a sensitive index to prognosis of CAG.