Weak up-regulation of serum response factor in gastric ulcers in patients with co-morbidities is associated with increased risk of recurrent bleeding

Table 2 Demographic and clinical parameters correlated with different degrees of SRF up-regulation on gastric ulcers

Up-regulation of SRF	Strong (n = 18)	Intermediate (n = 83)	Weak (n = 41)	P value^†
Female: Male	7 : 11	29 : 54	22 : 19	0.13
Mean age (yr)	62.3	66.4	67.0	0.53
Ulcer characteristics (n)
SRH, Forrest classification Ia to IIc (%)	22.2	61.4	58.5	0.01
Mean ulcer size (cm)	1.51	1.47	1.70	0.65
Endoscopic hemostatic therapy in patients with Forrest classification Ia to IIb SRH (%)	100	91.9	100	0.52
H. pylori infection (%)	61.1	62.7	68.3	0.80
NSAID user (%)	55.6	50.6	58.5	0.70
Comorbidity (%)	33.3	57.8	58.5	0.14
Mean Hb (g/dL)^‡	10.2	10.0	9.6	0.71
Platelet (mm³)^‡	300.4	244.7	247.3	0.24
Serum albumin <3 g/dL (%)^‡	37.5	26.4	36.0	0.62
Serum Creatinine ≥ 1.5 mg/dL (%)^‡	20.0	26.3	33.3	0.58

Up-regulation of SRF indicated the distribution of net-positive increase of SRF intensity in ulcer tissues than in non-ulcer tissues of superficial epithelium, mononuclear cells of the lamina propria, and mucosal smooth muscle cells, respectively. SRF: serum response factor; SRH: stigmata of recent hemorrhage; H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori; NSAID: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Hb: hemoglobin. ^†One-way ANOVA and Pearson χ² test were used as appropriate. ^‡Reference range: Hb level, 13.5-17 g/dL; platelet count; 138.1-353.4 × 10³/cmm; serum albumin level, 3.5-5 g/dL; serum creatinine, 0.7-1.5 mg/dL.

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