BIOHIT has a new GastroPanel test family, in which the four biomarkers (pepsinogen I and II, gastrin-17,Helicobacter pylori IgG antibody) will be processed using uniform reagents and reaction conditions. This increases the acceptance of the test and reduces significantly its labor-intensity and overall processing time.

The new BIOHIT GastroPanel Elisa test kits, are distributed in parallel with the current version. GastroPanel is a stomach health test made from a single blood sample. Being a panel of four biomarkers, the test gives accurate information about the structure and function of the stomach mucosa, because the marker profiles for morphological alterations (clinical disease) and disturbed function are highly specific. Altogether, 8 such marker panels exist in GastroPanel test, 5 reflecting clinical disease states and the remaining three resulting from functional disturbances.

From the clinical point of view, the structural changes in the gastric mucosa are more important, because the functional disturbances (acid output regulation) are easy to manage. These gastric mucosal changes are associated with Helicobacter pylori (HP) infections and atrophy (atrophic gastritis) developed as a result of their persistence (i.e., chronic HP infections). In most cases, both conditions are asymptomatic but readily detectable by GastroPanel test. Whenever diagnosed, HP infections should be properly treated (eradicated), and the severity of atrophic gastritis be confirmed by gastroscopy. Apart from HP infection, atrophic gastritis can develop through an autoimmune mechanism, but in both cases, the affected subjects are at increased risk of developing gastric or esophageal cancer, gastric or duodenal ulcer, as well as deficiency of vitamin B12, calcium, magnesium or iron, due to their malabsorption (see the attachment Additional Information).