Oral and uterine leiomyomas exhibit high immunoexpression of Cripto-1 compared to normal myometrium

Abstract Leiomyomas are the most common benign tumors in women. Many of them are associated with significant morbidity. The present study aimed to analyze histomorphological and histochemical characteristics and immunoexpression of Cripto-1 in oral leiomyomas (OL), uterine leiomyomas (UL), and normal myometrium (NM). Sample was composed of ten OL, 11 UL and 11 NM. Histomorphological characteristics were analyzed at 100 and 400x magnifications with HE staining. The immunoexpression of Cripto-1 was analyzed in five high-power fields. Statistical analysis considered a significant difference when p<0.05. Six OL disclosed moderate/intense inflammatory infiltrate, while ten UL exhibited mild infiltrate (p=0.024). When analyzing all leiomyomas together, 20 exhibited hyalinization, whereas no NM exhibited this alteration (p<0.001). There was no statistical difference in the distribution of mast cells among the lesions. The median Cripto-1 was higher in UL (9.0), followed by OL and NM (4.0). Associations of the Cripto-1 expression between leiomyomas (separately and together) and NM were statistically significant (p<0.001). These results indicate that OL and UL exhibit similar histomorphological and histochemical characteristics, as well as differences to NM. The higher immunoexpression of Cripto-1 in leiomyomas compared to NM suggests that this protein may influence cell proliferation and tissue architecture of oral and uterine leiomyomas.

摘要 平滑肌瘤（Leiomyomas）是女性最常见的良性肿瘤，其中多数病例伴随显著的发病负担。本研究旨在分析口腔平滑肌瘤（oral leiomyomas, OL）、子宫平滑肌瘤（uterine leiomyomas, UL）及正常子宫肌层（normal myometrium, NM）的组织形态学（histomorphological）、组织化学（histochemical）特征，以及Cripto-1的免疫表达（immunoexpression）情况。本研究样本包含10例口腔平滑肌瘤、11例子宫平滑肌瘤及11例正常子宫肌层组织。采用苏木精-伊红（HE）染色，在100倍及400倍放大倍率下观察分析组织形态学特征；在5个高倍视野下分析Cripto-1的免疫表达水平。本研究以P<0.05作为差异具有统计学意义的判定标准。6例口腔平滑肌瘤可见中等至重度炎性浸润，而11例子宫平滑肌瘤中有10例仅表现为轻度炎性浸润（P=0.024）。当将所有平滑肌瘤合并分析时，共20例出现玻璃样变，而正常子宫肌层组织无1例出现该改变（P<0.001）。各组病变组织中肥大细胞的分布差异无统计学意义。子宫平滑肌瘤中Cripto-1的中位数表达量最高（9.0），其次为口腔平滑肌瘤与正常子宫肌层（均为4.0）。平滑肌瘤（分别单独分析及合并分析）与正常子宫肌层之间的Cripto-1表达差异均具有统计学意义（P<0.001）。本研究结果显示，口腔平滑肌瘤与子宫平滑肌瘤的组织形态学及组织化学特征相似，且二者均与正常子宫肌层存在显著差异。相较于正常子宫肌层，平滑肌瘤中Cripto-1的免疫表达水平更高，提示该蛋白可能参与调控口腔及子宫平滑肌瘤的细胞增殖与组织结构构建。