Jeong Hwan Park, Ho Joong Youn, Jung Sook Yoon, Chul Soo Park, Soo Sung Oh, Woo Baek Chung, Jong Won Chung, Yun Seok Choi, Dong Hyun Lee, Yong Seog Oh, Wook Sung Chung, Soon Jo Hong, Youn Soo Lee, Sung Bo Sim, Sun Hee Lee
BACKGROUND In vitro experimental studies have reported that transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) stimulates the production of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) in porcine valves. However, the relation between TGF-beta1 and alpha-SMA in myxomatous valves has not been elucidated. METHODS We classified 27 subjects into two groups: 1) myxomatous group (M:F=11:12, mean age=55+/-15 years) and 2) rheumatic group (M:F=3:1, mean age=41+/-17 years) according to preoperative echocardiographic and postoperative histologic findings. Twenty-seven valve specimens from the patients who underwent valve replacement were obtained.
Tissue samples were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for TGF-beta1 and alpha-SMA. The positively stained areas were measured using an image analysis program (Image Pro-Plus 4.5), and then the TGF-beta1 volume fraction (TGF-VF) and alpha-SMA volume fraction (alpha-SMA-VF) were calculated. RESULTS TGF-VF in myxomatous valves was higher than in rheumatic valves (2,759+/-2,294 vs 864+/-276, p=0.04).
alpha-SMA-VF in myxomatous valves was higher than in rheumatic valves (4,122+/-2,275 vs 2,421+/-844, p=0.002).
There was a significant correlation between TGF-beta1 and alpha-SMA in myxomatous valves (r=0.38, p=0.04). There was no significant correlation between TGF-beta1 and alpha-SMA in rheumatic valves (r=-0.50, p=0.67). CONCLUSIONS TGF-beta1 and alpha-SMA may be related to the pathogenesis of myxomatous valves. The activation of TGF-beta1 might increase the expression of alpha-SMA in human myxomatous valves.
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Apoptosis and abundance of Bcl-2 family and transforming growth factor β1 signaling proteins in canine myxomatous mitral valves Sirilak Surachetpong, Treenate Jiranantasak, Anudep Rungsipipat, E. Christopher Orton Journal of Veterinary Cardiology.2013; 15(3): 171. CrossRef
Pathology, protein expression and signaling in myxomatous mitral valve degeneration: Comparison of dogs and humans Heike Aupperle, Sirilak Disatian Journal of Veterinary Cardiology.2012; 14(1): 59. CrossRef
We examined the expressions of CD44 splice variants (v4/5, v6), alpha-smooth muscle actin, nm23 to evaluate their roles as prognostic factors in 70 cases of uterine cervical carcinoma (stage IB to IIB) who were surgically treated from January 1989 to June 1990 with a clinical follow-up of a minimum of 5 years. The expression was examined by an immunohistochemical method using archival formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue. In the 70 cases, 61 cases were squamous cell carcinoma and 9 cases were adenocarcinoma.
CD44v4/5, CD44v6, alpha-smooth muscle actin, and nm23 were detected in 41.4%, 70%, 100%, and 74.3% of tumor samples, respectively. CD44 splice variants and nm23 showed membrane and cytoplasmic staining of tumor cells, respectively. The expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin showed cytoplasmic staining confined to stromal cells and was classified into three grades by the extent in stromal cells: with less than 10% of stromal cells; 32.9%, 10-50% of stromal cells; 40.0%, more than 50%; 27.1%. These expressions were not correlated with histologic types, lymph node involvement, recurrence, and grades of tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL). But CD44v4/5 had significantly inverse correlation with TIL (p=0.049). The expression of CD44v4/5 was significantly correlated with that of CD44v6 (p=0.05), and that of alpha-smooth muscle actin was inversely correlated with that of nm23 (p=0.049). In conclusion, in FIGO IB-IIB uterine cervical carcinoma CD44 variants, nm23, and SMA show high prevalence, however, with little prognostic significance assessed by recurrence and lymph node metastasis.
The cells of glomerular mesangium is composed mostly of intrinsic contractile mesangial cells and a few macrophages.
Injury to the mesangium is central to many glomerular diseases. This study was aimed to evaluate and compare the expressions of alpha-smooth muscle actin (ASMA) and lysozyme in the mesangium of various human glomerular diseases and also of according to the severity of their progressions. We performed immunohistochemical and transmission electromicroscopic examinations in 51 cases of renal biopsy including 5 normal kidneys. The results were as follows; (1) ASMA staining was negligible in normal glomeruli. (2) Increased ASMA staining was observed in the mesangium of glomeruli from all specimens of primary glomerular disease, regardless of their diagnosis. (3) The staining intensity of ASMA in mesangium was mild in minimal change disease and membranous glomerulonephritis, and strong in focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), diffuse mesangial hypercellularity, membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN), and IgA nephropathy (IgAN). (4) The staining intensity of ASMA have no correlation with mesangial immune deposits. (5) The staining intensity of ASMA in mesangium was inversely correlated with the disease progression in FSGS and IgAN. (6) Glomeruli showing global or segmental sclerosis invariably lacked ASMA. (7) Compared with ASMA, the mesangial cells with lysozyme expression were very rare, even though it was in proportion to ASMA staining.
Interstitial ASMA expression was confined to fibrotic area in various glomerular diseases. In conclusion, the expression of ASMA and lysozyme in mesangium are increased in a variety of glomerular diseases, regardless of disease entity. Their intensity was in proportion to the mesangial cell proliferation. In progressive glomerulonephritis, such as IgAN and FSGS, the increased expression of ASMA was prominent in the early lesion, and decreased with the progression of the glomerular sclerosis.
BACKGROUND The natural history of idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) is heterogeneous with some patients showing spontaneous remission while others show a progressive course leading to end-stage renal failure. We tried to assess quantitatively alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) and vimentin expression as markers to predict the outcome of membranous nephropathy. METHODS This study included 24 patients with biopsy proven IMN. We measured the volume of the positive area for alpha-SMA and vimentin within the glomeruli and compared the results with 5 patients in the normal control group. We evaluated glomerular alpha-SMA and vimentin expression in correlation with BUN and serum creatinine level at the time of diagnosis and after treatment. RESULTS Glomerular alpha-SMA and vimentin in IMN were higher than in the control group. Glomerular alpha-SMA was significantly higher in progressive IMN than in non-progressive IMN. The glomerular alpha-SMA was sifnificantly correlated with BUN and serum creatinine at last follow-up (p<0.05), but there was no statistically significant correlation at diagnosis. The glomerular vimentin was not different between progressive and non-progressive groups. CONCLUSION These data suggest that the expression of glomerular alpha-SMA may be a useful prognostic indicator and may be able to differentiate between patients with membranous nephropathy who respond well to treatment and those who continue to progress.