Regulatory Peptides 93 (2000) 31–35 www.elsevier.com / locate / regpep Gastric endocrine cells: types, function and growth a, b c d e * Enrico Solcia , Guido Rindi , Roberto Buffa , Roberto Fiocca , Carlo Capella a Department of Pathology and Genetics, University of Pavia and IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo Hospital, via Forlanini 16, I-27100 Pavia, Italy b Department of Pathology, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy c Department of Pathology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy d Department of Pathology, University of Genova, Genova, Italy e Department of Pathology, Insubria University at Varese, Varese, Italy Received 24 July 2000; accepted 26 July 2000 Abstract The history of gastric endocrine cells identification and functional characterization is briefly outlined. An up to date classification of such cells is given. Present status of histopathological, histochemical, ultrastructural and molecular investigations on gastric endocrine hyperplasia and neoplasia is summarized and briefly discussed.  2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Gastrin; Somatostatin; ECL cells; Endocrine tumors 1. Historical outline (1952), who recognized its identity with serotonin, which had been isolated by Rapport, Green and Page from serum The history of gastric endocrine cells started with in 1949 (see Solcia et al. [1] for a more detailed outline of Heidenhain as early as 1870, when he observed chromaffin the early findings). cells in the dog gastric mucosa. Subsequently, yellow cells The presence in the gastric mucosa of basigranular, were described by Nicolas in 1891, basigranular acidophil acidophilic and / or argyrophilic cells morphologically re- cells by Kultschitzky in 1897 and basigranular yellow sembling EC cells but lacking argentaffinity and reactivity cells by Schmidt in 1905 in the intestinal mucosa. The for other 5-hydroxytryptamine tests was noted by several latter author correctly attributed the yellow staining of the authors in the 1930–1960 period. During the late sixties, granules to their interaction with the chromium salt of the parallel histochemical and ultrastructural studies provided Muller-formol fixative he used. The name enterochromaf- evidence that they represented a system of amines and fin (EC) cells was introduced by Ciaccio in 1907 [1]. The peptides producing endocrine cells involved in the syn- endocrine nature of the EC cells, their silver-reducing thesis and secretion of known hormones, such as gastrin, power or argentaffinity, and their morphological and or of hormones still awaiting discovery [2–7]. The discov- functional independence of adrenal chromaffin cells were ery in the murine stomach of argyrophilic, histamine- first recognized by Masson in 1914. An indoleamine called storing ‘enterochromaffin-like’ cells [8] led to their identi- enteramine was purified by Vialli and Erspamer in 1942 fication with ECL cells, a type of ultrastructurally char- from rabbit gastric mucosa and later characterized as acterized cell restricted to oxyntic glands in all species 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) by Erspamer and Asero investigated, including man [4,9–12]. Gastrin was the first peptide hormone to be detected in epithelial cells of the gastric mucosa [13] which, after some conflicting findings, turned out to correspond to the ‘G’ cells, a type of *Corresponding author. Tel.: 1 39-038-250-3057; fax: 1 39-038-252- 5866. ultrastructurally characterized cell shown to be characteris- 0167-0115 / 00 / $ – see front matter  2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S0167-0115(00)00175-0