Small mucus-granule-containing ciliated cells in the human gastric mucosa: a transitional form to metaplastic ciliated cells.

Ciliated cells were found in the gastric mucosa in close association with intestinal metaplasia, mainly in the pyloric mucosa, of Japanese patients. The occurrence of ciliated cells is believed to be an acquired phenomenon and is considered to be a type of metaplasia; the term "ciliated metaplasia" is used to describe this phenomenon. Ciliated cells are found in the basal part of the glands among normal-looking mucous cells, mucous neck cells and neuroendocrine cells, but never on the surface or in foveolar epithelium. In ciliated cell-containing glands, mitoses were noted in the neck region and the ultrastructural features of these cells were identical to those of undifferentiated neck cells. However, cell metaplasia from undifferentiated cells to metaplastic ciliated cells has never been demonstrated previously. The small mucus-granule-containing ciliated cells found in our present study may arise subsequent to division of undifferentiated neck cells into mucous cells with some daughter cells then exhibiting differentiation characteristics specific to ciliated cells. Thus they contain a mixture of both small mucus granules and numerous basal bodies and cilia, at the same time as a transitional form.