I am mystified over a couple of things though. Firstly, I hadn't seen this halo like effect described for G cells. I always thought they were indistinguishable on H and E from their neighbours. Perhaps their plump appearance is attributable to being "turned on" to produce larger amounts of gastrin thus these cells are not only increased in number but each cell itself is abnormal or pathologic. Finally was referred to a reference in the AFIP fascicle by a PATHO-Ler which gives a similar description.
Why don't we see this more frequently with the large numbers of patients taking these medications?
Now that my eye is a bit better trained I am starting
to see these cells more often but only sporadic single cells. It
is worth noting that the histology is similar and could be potentially
confused with lymphocytic gastritis.
Gastrin immunoperoxidase stain is shown below. Back to home page.