Hp− chronic gastritis samples showed weak immunostaining in the foveolar epithelium for most cases of all proteins (Fig. 2D, F and 3D, E), except TGF‐β‐RII, which showed strong expression (Fig. 3F), besides immunostaining of inflammatory cells in some cases for TNF‐α and TGF‐β‐RII (Fig. 2D and 3F). This evidence concerns the gene HP and chronic gastritis.