Controversy surrounds the origin of Barrett oesophagus as well as which component of Barrett epithelium progresses to cancer. The mucosa in Barrett oesophagus is typically described as 'intestinal metaplasia' with structures called 'crypts', which resemble crypts in the intestine. Now, Stuart McDonald and colleagues have published findings in the journal Gut that go against this dogma and report that Barrett glands resemble pyloric-type gastric glands, rather than intestinal crypts.Barrett oesophagus is composed of a variety of cell lineages. Even in the 'specialized epithelium', multiple cell lineages have been described, including cells containing MUC1, MUC5AC or MUC6 (which are characteristic of gastric epithelium) and goblet cells (with MUC2 and MUC3-seen in intestinal epithelium).
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