engleski

Altered expression of metallothioneins I/II and HLA-DR in uterine squamous lesions

Problem: Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) has been described as premalignant lesion, from which may develop cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women. In many cases, mildly and moderately dysplastic areas (CIN I and CIN II) regress spontaneously, but CIN III is regarded as being identical to carcinoma in situ (CIS). Owing to the findings that various human tumours show an increased expression of metallothioneins (MTs) and MHC class II antigens, which might be associated with protection against DNA damage, oxidative stress and apoptosis, or with the activation of an immune response, respectively, in this study the immunohistochemical expression of MT I/II and HLA-DR was investigated in CIN grades I-III, and in invasive cervical squamous carcinomas. Material and methods: HLA-DR and MTs expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry on formaldehyde-fixed uterine specimens comprising 5 women with mild dysplasia (CIN I), 5 women with moderate dysplasia (CIN II), 10 women with severe dysplasia (CIN III), and 9 women with cervical carcinoma. The intensity of staining was graded on an arbitrary scale from negative (o) to strongly positive (5+).Results: Aberrant expression of HLA-DR and cytoplasmic MTs I/II expression were found on cells in lamina propria and in endocervical glandular epithelium in intensity, which increased starting from CIN I toward CIN III. In CIS, however, the HLA-DR expression of high intensity was less frequent, and nuclear staining of MTs was noticed. Conclusions: The results suggest that increased expression of HLA-DR and MTs may be related to the evolution of cervical cancer, as well as that MT might have regulatory effects on MHC-class 2 expression in these events. (Supported by grant 0621341-1337 from Croatian Ministry of Science).

HLA-DR; metallothioneins I/II; cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

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