MUC5AC and gastritis: We selected 26 samples with gastritis (gastritis scores 2–5, age 24–59, 23 females) and 27 samples with no or low gastritis (gastritis scores 0–1, age 26–60, 22 females) for further analyses and mucin isolation to obtain four groups (Leb positive, gastritis score <1; Leb positive, gastritis score >2; Leb negative, gastritis score <1; and Leb negative, gastritis score >2).