bromochloroacetic-acid and Vascular-Diseases

Immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase (peroxidase-antiperoxidase, PAP) techniques for the demonstration of neural and non-neural cell markers are contributing greatly to increase the diagnostic accuracy of difficult tumors of the central nervous system. Well characterized nervous system markers include glial fibrillary acidic (GFA) protein, the three protein subunits of neurofilaments, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), myelin basic protein, and S-100 protein. The most important and reliable of these is GFA protein, which is widely in use for the immunohistochemical diagnosis of tumors of the glioma group. Its many practical applications are reviewed and illustrated. Other neural markers, in particular the specificity of NSE and S-100 protein, need to be critically evaluated. Problems related to the immunohistochemical diagnosis of central neuroepithelial tumors of putative neuroblastic origin remain complex and still need to be resolved. Non-neural markers, such as vimentin, desmin, cytokeratins, Factor VIII, alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, and immunoglobulins have well defined, although more restricted, applications in surgical neuropathology.

Topics: alpha-Fetoproteins; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antigens; Carcinoma; Central Nervous System Diseases; Chorionic Gonadotropin; Cytoskeleton; Desmin; Factor VIII; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; Histocytochemistry; Humans; Immune Sera; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Immunoglobulins; Intermediate Filament Proteins; Keratins; Lymphoma; Medical Oncology; Meningeal Neoplasms; Myelin Basic Protein; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neurology; Oligodendroglia; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase; S100 Proteins; Sarcoma; Vascular Diseases; Vimentin; von Willebrand Factor

Cytokeratin 19 fragment (CK19) levels in serum have already been documented as a useful tumour marker for lung cancer. In the present study, it was hypothesized that CK19 may be increased in the serum and epithelial lining fluid of the respiratory tract from patients with pulmonary fibrosis. CK19 was measured in the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of patients with pulmonary fibrosis and the correlation between CK19 levels and clinical parameters evaluated. Nineteen patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), eight with pulmonary fibrosis associated with a collagen vascular disorder (PF-CVD), seven patients with acute interstitial pneumonia (AIP), and 10 normal smokers as a control group were studied. CK19 levels in sera of patients with IPF and patients with PF-CVD were significantly increased compared to those of normal smokers. CK19 levels in sera of patients with AIP were significantly increased compared to those of other groups. CK19 values in the BALF of patients with pulmonary fibrosis were significantly elevated compared to those of normal smokers. CK19 values in sera charged according to the progression or improvement of the acute lung injury. Immunohistochemical study using pulmonary tissues obtained from patients with AIP demonstrated that the hyaline membrane and proliferating type II pneumocytes were stained by anti-human cytokeratin 19 antibody. These data demonstrated that the measurement of cytokeratin 19 fragment is a useful parameter to evaluate the activity of lung epithelial cell damage and repair.

Topics: Acute Disease; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biomarkers; Bronchoalveolar Lavage; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Collagen Diseases; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Epithelial Cells; Female; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Keratins; Lung Diseases, Interstitial; Male; Middle Aged; Pulmonary Fibrosis; Vascular Diseases

During development of atherosclerotic lesions, vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) undergo changes both phenotypically and in their cytoskeleton composition. An expression of cytokeratins 8 and 18 in SMCs in plaques of the human superficial femoral artery and of cytokeratin 8 in lesions of the aorta was recently described. Since cytokeratins are epithelial markers generally not found in normal adult vascular SMCs, we performed a detailed immunofluorescence microscopy study using a large panel of antibodies against the various cytokeratin polypeptides and other elements of the cytoskeleton. We included lesions of carotid, common and superficial femoral, iliac, and popliteal arteries; the abdominal aorta; and saphenous vein bypass grafts, as well as primary, restenotic, and transplantation-associated lesions of coronary arteries (n = 33). Cytokeratins 8 and 18 were present in myointimal cells of all pathological specimens. Colocalization with smooth muscle alpha-actin identified most cytokeratin-positive cells as SMCs. Only very few cells cosynthesized cytokeratin and desmin, whereas the majority of cytokeratin-positive cells were vimentin-positive. This pattern of cytoskeletal protein synthesis is similar to that found in some fetal and/or neonatal SMCs. These findings suggest that the synthesis of cytokeratins in a subset of SMCs of atherosclerotic lesions is a common phenomenon in coronary artery and peripheral vascular disease as well as graft disease and transplantation-associated arteriosclerosis and that the state of these SMCs is of a "dedifferentiated" fetal type.

Topics: Aorta; Arteriosclerosis; Coronary Artery Bypass; Coronary Disease; Coronary Vessels; Femoral Artery; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Humans; Keratins; Muscle, Smooth, Vascular; Peripheral Vascular Diseases; Saphenous Vein; Vascular Diseases