Browsing by Subject "Microvessel density"

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    Angiogenesis: a new surrogate histopathological marker is capable of differentiating between mild and significant portal hypertension
    (F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Universidad de Murcia: Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2015) Hu, Dou-dou; Habib, Sohail; Li, Xin-min; Wang, Tai-ling; Wang, Bao-en; Zhao, Xin-yan
    Aim: Angiogenesis is considered an important pathophysiological feature of portal hypertension. We investigated the ability of angiogenesis, as CD34-positive microvessel density (MVD), to differentiate portal pressure in a CCl 4-induced rat cirrhosis model. Methods: Cirrhosis was induced by intraperitoneal injection of carbon tetrachloride in 46 male adult Sprague-Dawley rats. A catheter connected to a highly sensitive pressure transducer was inserted into the portal vein to continuously record portal pressure. Fibrosis area, nodule size and MVD were assessed by image morphometry. Results: Of 42 rats in which portal pressure was measured successfully, 27 (64%) had portal pressure ≥10 mmHg, defined as significant portal hypertension. MVD was 4.5-fold higher and fibrosis area 13.0-fold higher in rats with significant portal hypertension than in rats with portal pressure <10 mmHg. Portal pressure was significantly correlated with MVD (r=0.491, p<0.001) and fibrosis area (r=0.545, p﹤ 0.001) in all animals, but only MVD correlated with portal pressure (r=0.731 p<0.001) in rats with significant portal hypertension. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve for MVD in all rats was 0.953 (95% CI: 0.875-1.031) and optimum cutoff for MVD was 18/mm2, with 96.3% sensitivity and 93.3% specificity. Conclusions: We found that MVD, measured by CD34 immunostaining, was better able than the fibrosis area to discriminate significant portal hypertension in rats, suggesting that MVD could be a surrogate marker for portal hypertension in patients with liver diseases.
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    Microcirculation density and maturity in uterine and soft tissue leiomyosarcomas: an immunohistochemical study
    (F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Universidad de Murcia: Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2015) Caraffi, Stefano; Corradi, Domenico; Campanini, Nicoletta; Govoni, Paolo; Rocchi, Laura; Perris, Roberto; Mangieri, Domenica
    The role of angiogenesis as a hallmark of tumor progression has been poorly explored in leiomyosarcoma, a rare but aggressive mesenchymal malignancy. We aimed to characterize microvessel distribution and morphology - including pericyte coverage - in a retrospective series of leyomiosarcomas of the soft tissues and the uterus. 41 whole-block tumor slides from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues were immunostained for endothelial-specific marker CD31 and microvessel density was quantified by assigning a grade to the frequency of CD31 positive microvessels. Vessel morphology and pericyte coverage were investigated by double-labeling for CD31 and either PDGFRβ, αSMA, desmin, CD90, or CD146. We found that microvessel density correlated with tumor grade in leiomyosarcoma of soft tissues, in analogy with what has been established in several types of carcinoma. This did not apply to uterine leiomyosarcoma, possibly due to the abundant myometrial vascularization. The evaluation of perivascular cell markers related to vessel stability revealed immature microvascular networks with aberrant pericyte coverage, irrespective of tumor origin or grade. Our observations substantiate the role of angiogenesis in the progression of soft tissue leiomyosarcoma. A multiple-marker approach to the assessment of pericyte coverage can identify different profiles of vessel immaturity correlated with tumor grade.