Polysaccharides and mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) expression in gallbladder mucosa of young patients with gallstones as evaluated by spatial visualization and quantification

The study aimed at examination of tissue expression of polysaccharides and secretory mucin 5AC (MUC5AC)in young patients (up to 25 years of age) with a symptomatic gallstones. For comparison, patients most frequently subjectedto cholecystectomy were studied, i.e. patients of approximately 50 years of age with the same diagnosis. In quantitativestudies on tissue expression of both mucus components, the modern technique of spatial visualization was applied for thefirst time. Application of the technique permitted to demonstrate significant positive relationships between expression ofglycoproteins (immunocytochemical ABC technique for detection of MUC5AC) and expression of sugar components inmucus (PAS technique) and to confirm suitability of the technique for quantitative appraisal of both histochemical andimmunocytochemical reactions. An even higher expression of polysaccharides in the entire mucosa and of MUC5AC wasdetected in gallbladder epithelium of 50-year-old patients, as compared to young patients with symptomatic gallstones. Inthe young patients, expression of polysaccharides correlated with inflammatory activity (grading), width of gallbladder walland PLT level in peripheral blood. A significantly higher expression of polysaccharides in gallbladder epithelium wasdemonstrated in young patients admitted in the emergency mode to the hospital. These correlations in young patients maysuggest a role of both mucus components in pathogenesis of cholelithiasis in this age group. A quantitative appraisal ofmucus component expression in the two parts of gallbladder mucosa (epithelium vs. entire mucosa) using spatial visualizationtechnique permitted to more accurately compare production of glycoproteins and of polysaccharides in patients withcholelithiasis and to demonstrate additional correlations of a potential clinical significance

Polysaccharides and mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) expression in gallbladder mucosa of young patients with gallstones as evaluated by spatial visualization and quantification.

The study aimed at examination of tissue expression of polysaccharides and secretory mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) in young patients (up to 25 years of age) with a symptomatic gallstones. For comparison, patients most frequently subjected to cholecystectomy were studied, i.e. patients of approximately 50 years of age with the same diagnosis. In quantitative studies on tissue expression of both mucus components, the modern technique of spatial visualization was applied for the first time. Application of the technique permitted to demonstrate significant positive relationships between expression of glycoproteins (immunocytochemical ABC technique for detection of MUC5AC) and expression of sugar components in mucus (PAS technique) and to confirm suitability of the technique for quantitative appraisal of both histochemical and immunocytochemical reactions. An even higher expression of polysaccharides in the entire mucosa and of MUC5AC was detected in gallbladder epithelium of 50-year-old patients, as compared to young patients with symptomatic gallstones. In the young patients, expression of polysaccharides correlated with inflammatory activity (grading), width of gallbladder wall and PLT level in peripheral blood. A significantly higher expression of polysaccharides in gallbladder epithelium was demonstrated in young patients admitted in the emergency mode to the hospital. These correlations in young patients may suggest a role of both mucus components in pathogenesis of cholelithiasis in this age group. A quantitative appraisal of mucus component expression in the two parts of gallbladder mucosa (epithelium vs. entire mucosa) using spatial visualization technique permitted to more accurately compare production of glycoproteins and of polysaccharides in patients with cholelithiasis and to demonstrate additional correlations of a potential clinical significance

Association between Levels of IgA Antibodies to Tissue Transglutaminase and Gliadin-Related Nonapeptides in Dermatitis Herpetiformis

Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is an autoimmunity-driven inflammatory blistering dermatosis associated with a gluten-dependent enteropathy. Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) and nonapeptides of gliadin (npG) are considered in its pathomechanism/diagnostics. Here, the diagnostic accuracy of anti-tTG/anti-npG IgA ELISAs in Slavic DH patients with active skin rash was assessed through creating receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, determining cutoff values, and calculating correlations between levels of anti-tTG/anti-npG IgA in DH, IgA/neutrophil-mediated non-DH patients and healthy persons. Altogether, sera from 80 Slavic individuals were examined. There were negligible differences between cutoff points obtained by the ELISAs manufacturer and those in this study. There were statistically significant correlations between levels of anti-tTG/anti-npG IgA in both DH group and the group of IgA/neutrophil-mediated non-DH dermatoses. There was no such correlation in healthy controls. It seems that IgA autoantibodies to tTG and npG in the IgA/neutrophil-mediated DH are produced in the coordinated way implying their causal relationship

Immunoexpression of IgA receptors (CD89, CD71) in dermatitis herpetiformis

Introduction. The role of IgA receptors in dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) pathogenesis is still unknown. CD89 and CD71 may be associated with immune response during DH development. The purpose of this study was to perform semiquantitative analysis of simultaneous immunoexpression of CD89 and CD71 in DH and IgA/neutrophil-mediated non-DH dermatoses (IgAN) in relation to specific IgA autoantibodies/antibodies (tissue and epidermal transglutaminases, nonapeptides of gliadin — eTG/tTG/npG) as well neutrophil activation via the release of neutrophil elastase (NE). Material and methods. In total, 48 patients were studied. The study was conducted on skin lesions and sera obtained from DH and IgAN patients. DH and IgAN served as mutually positive control groups. We used immunohistochemical technique with semiquantitative digital morphometry and ELISA to measure serum levels of anti-eTG/tTG/npG IgA. Results. CD89 showed a significantly higher expression in DH than in IgAN. CD71 was overexpressed in DH and IgAN. CD89 immunoexpression correlated negatively with CD71 in IgAN. A positive correlation was revealed between CD89 immunoexpression and anti-npG IgA in DH. No statistically significant correlations were found in DH between the CD89/CD71 and NE immunoexpression, between CD71 immunoexpression and anti-tTG/eTG/npG IgA, or between CD89 immunoexpression and anti-eTG/tTG IgA serum levels. Conclusions. CD89 is probably a key IgA Fc receptor in DH development, where it is associated with immune response to gluten. CD71 may be linked with inflammation in DH and IgAN. We suggest that interaction between CD89 and CD71 can modulate the inflammation in IgAN

Ghrelin and obestatin in thyroid gland — immunohistochemical expression in nodular goiter, papillary and medullary cancer

Introduction. Previous studies analyzing ghrelin and obestatin expression in thyroid gland tissue are not unanimous and are mostly related to ghrelin. The role of ghrelin and obestatin in the thyroid gland appears very interesting due to their probable involvement in cell proliferation. Furthermore, since the thyroid gland is associated with the maintenance of energy balance, the relationship between ghrelin, obestatin and thyroid function is worthy of consideration. The aim of the study was to assess ghrelin and obestatin immunocytochemical expression in nodular goiter (NG), papillary cancer (PTC) and medullary cancer (MTC). Material and methods. Analyzed samples included 9 cases of NG, 8 cases of PTC and 11 cases of MTC. The analysis of ghrelin and obestatin expression was performed by use of the immunohistochemical (IHC) EnVision system and evaluated with filter HSV software (quantitative morphometric analysis). Results. Quantitative ghrelin expression in MTC cells was higher than in NG (p = 0.013) and correlated negatively with the size of the tumor (r= –0.829, p < 0.05). We did not observe any differences in ghrelin expression neither between MTC and PTC nor between NG and PTC. Obestatin immunoexpression pattern in all analyzed specimens was irregular and poorly accented. The strongest immunoreactivity for obestatin was demonstrated in NG. In MTC obestatin expression was significantly weaker than in NG and PTC (p < 0.05 in both cases). In NG the intensity of obestatin immunostaining was significantly higher than that of ghrelin (p = 0.03). Conversely, ghrelin expression in MTC was definitely more evident than obestatin immunoreactivity (p < 0.01). There was no statistically significant difference between ghrelin and obestatin expression in PTC. No correlations were detected between reciprocal tissue expressions of ghrelin and obestatin in the analyzed specimens of NG, PTC or MTC. Conclusions. The differences between ghrelin expression in NG and MTC suggest that ghrelin may be involved in thyroid cell proliferation. The differences between ghrelin and obestatin immunoreactivity in benign and malignant thyroid tumors could support the theory of alternative transcription of the preproghrelin gene and independent production of ghrelin and obestatin

Tissue expression of S100 proteins in gallbladder mucosa of the patients with calculous cholecystitis

 Proteins of S100 group, produced by phagocytes represent endogenous activators of innate immune responses. Role of these proteins in the etiopathogenesis of cholelithiasis remains unknown. The studies aimed at the morphometric evaluation of S100A8 and S100A9 protein expression in gallbladder mucosa in patients with acute and chronic calculous cholecystitis (n = 71). The presence of proteins was detected by immunohistochemistry while quantitative analysis employed the spatial visualization technique. We found the immunopositive expression of the two studied S100 proteins in neutrophils and monocytes/macrophages of the gallbladder’s wall and a higher expression in acute cholecystitis. Quantitative study revealed higher immunoexpression of S100A9 over S100A8 in both studied groups of patients. Moreover, a reciprocal linear relationship between the expression of the studied proteins and a positive correlation between expression of either S100A8 or S100A9 and inflammatory activity (grading) in the gallbladder wall were found. The expression of S100A8 protein in the chronic cholecystitis group and in older patients correlated with leukocytosis, which suggests the role of S100A8 particularly at the chronic stage of cholecystitis. The obtained results indicated close relationship between S100A8 and S100A9 proteins in their proinflammatory functions. The increased expression of only one of them can be recognized as a useful index of local inflammatory activity in calculous cholecystitis.

Analysis of the autoimmune response against BP180 and BP230 in ethnic Poles with neurodegenerative disorders and bullous pemphigoid

Abstract recent studies postulated the association between bullous pemphigoid (BP) and neurodegenerative disorders (nD). the autoantibodies to BP180 and/or BP230 may be present not only in BP, but also in nD as neuronal isoforms of these proteins are identified in the central nervous system. however, there are only scant data about the precise pathogenetic mechanisms interlinking nD and BP as well as the immunologic profile in these patients. the aim is to analyze the serological immunopathological profiles (anti-BP180 igG, anti-BP230 igG) in BP patients with and without nD in order to identify the specific autoantibody(ies) and corresponding antigens responsible for nD development in BP patients. altogether, 82 ethnic Poles with BP and their medical records were examined (62 BP-nD; 20 BP+nD). Levels of serum anti-BP180/BP230 igG in BP patients were evaluated with eLisas. the statistical analyses involved Pearson chi-squared test, Mann-whitney u-test and ranking of autoantibodies. the prevalence of nD among BP patients was 24.4%. there were no statistically significant differences in autoantigens profiles (anti-BP180/anti-BP230 igG) between BP+nD and BP-nD groups. there was no relationship between nD development and anti-BP180/anti-BP230 igG leve