Objective This study aimed to investigate the expression of
interleukin (IL)-6,
signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3),
epithelial-cadherin (
E- cadherin) and
neural-cadherin (
N-cadherin)
proteins in nonfunctional
pituitary adenomas, and their correlation with invasiveness. Methods Thirty cases of nonfunctional
pituitary adenoma pathological wax specimens were selected from our hospital, including 20 cases of invasive nonfunctional
pituitary adenoma (INFPA) and 10 noninvasive nonfunctional
pituitary adenomas (NNFPAs). Envision was used to detect
IL-6, STAT3,
E-cadherin , and
N-cadherin in specimens. Statistical methods were used to analyze the correlation between the four
proteins and the Knosp classification of nonfunctional
pituitary adenomas. Result IL-6 and STAT3 were highly expressed in INFPAs but poorly expressed in NNFPAs.
E-cadherin expression in INFPAs was lower than that in NNFPAs.
N-cadherin was positive or strongly positive in both groups. Spearman's correlation analysis showed that the expression of
IL-6 and STAT3 was positively correlated with Knosp's classification, whereas the expression of
E-cadherin was negatively correlated with Knosp classification. Meanwhile, the expression of
N-cadherin was not correlated with Knosp's classification. Conclusion The expression of the
IL-6, STAT3,
E-cadherin proteins were associated nonfunctional
pituitary adenomas. However, the expression of
N-cadherin was not correlated with nonfunctional
pituitary adenomas.