Pernicious anaemia (also known as Biermer’s disease) is an autoimmune atrophic gastritis, predominantly of the fundus, and is responsible for a deficiency in vitamin B12 (cobalamin) due to its malabsorption. Its prevalence is 0.1% in the general population and 1.9% in subjects over the age of 60 years. Pernicious anaemia represents 20%–50% of the causes of vitamin B12 deficiency in adults. Parietal cell antibodies are found in about 90% of Caucasian patients with pernicious anaemia. In the later stages of the disease, the incidence of these antibodies decreases due to the progression of autoimmune gastritis and a loss of parietal cell mass, as a result of the decrease in antigenic rate. In recent studies, an average incidence of 55% of anti-parietal cell antibodies was documented in patients with advanced pernicious anaemia. Parietal cell antibodies are present in 7.8–19.5% of the general healthy adult population. A not fully explained question is whether parietal cell antibodies presence is related to Helicobacter pylori infection. Anti-parietal cell antibodies are found in up to 20.7% of these patients.
Preparation of Patient: No special preparation.
