In the present study, we investigated involvement of proliferation and apoptosis processes in gastric mucosa of patients with different forms of SSc and individuals without SSc by analyzing expression of proliferation marker Ki-67, apoptotic marker caspase-3, as well as expression of syndecan-1, which is normally involved in maintenance and restoration of epithelial sheet morphology and integrity. Here, CASP3 is linked to systemic sclerosis.