Tahani Ahmad Al-Matrafi , Muhammad Atteya

Abstract

Digestive diseases resulting from atrophy and metaplasia become more common as people get older, resulting in anatomical and functional abnormalities in the gastrointestinal system. The integrity and health of all parts of the digestive system depend largely on the presence of an adequate stem cell population. The study aimed to analyze the gastric stem cell population of different ages, using Ki-67 immunohistochemistry. Twenty-one adult male albino rats were distributed into 3 age groups, each consisting of 7 rats: Juvenile, Adult, and Old. After one acclimatization week, all animals were euthanized. The stomach was excised and processed for histological staining with H&E and Ki-67 immunohistochemical staining. The Ki-67 slides were subjected to image analysis and the percentage of positive cells was counted. The staining was predominantly nuclear with varying intensities. Statistical analysis revealed that the Ki-67 nuclear staining mean intensity score was slightly higher in the Adult group than in the Juvenile and Old groups, with no significant differences. Statistical analysis also showed significantly fewer stem cells in both the Adult and Old age groups than in the Juvenile group. The Old group also showed fewer stem cells than the adult group, but the difference was not statistically significant. The gastric stem cell population decreases with age.