Immunohistochemical and quantitative mRNA assessment of ghrelin expression in gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinoma.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Ghrelin is an orexigenic gut peptide produced predominantly by the stomach. Gastric mucosal ghrelin production could be compromised by an infiltrating adenocarcinoma.

AIMS:

To assess the expression of ghrelin mRNA and peptide in oesophagogastric adenocarcinomas and adjacent non-neoplastic mucosa.

METHODS:

10 gastric and 22 oesophageal adenocarcinoma archival samples were randomly selected from a database. The presence of ghrelin-positive cells was assessed in cancer and corresponding non-neoplastic mucosa by immunohistochemistry. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for ghrelin mRNA was also performed on 24 gastric and 8 oesophageal adenocarcinoma specimens and adjacent non-neoplastic mucosa.

RESULTS:

Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase PCR confirm a negligible expression of ghrelin in adenocarcinoma specimens. By contrast, non-neoplastic gastric mucosa was rich in ghrelin-positive cells and ghrelin mRNA. The number (median and range) of ghrelin-positive cells per 2 mm section of non-neoplastic mucosa was 73 (45-215) in the corpus; this was significantly higher than in cardia mucosa (9 (0-64), p<0.001) and antral mucosa (5 (0-14), p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:

Gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinomas have no ghrelin-producing cells. The highest level of ghrelin expression was noted in the non-neoplastic mucosa of the gastric corpus. Disruption of the gastric ghrelin-producing mechanism may occur during oesophagogastric malignancy.

• Authors: Marcus Mottershead, Emmanuel Karteris, Jill Y Barclay, Saira Suortamo, Mark Newbold, Harpal Randeva, Chuka U Nwokolo
• Journal: Journal of clinical pathology (J Clin Pathol) Vol. 60 Issue 4 Pg. 405-9 (Apr 2007) ISSN: 0021-9746 [Print] England
• PMID: 16751299 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Ghrelin
• Peptide Hormones
• RNA, Messenger
• RNA, Neoplasm

Topics

• Adenocarcinoma (metabolism)
• Esophageal Neoplasms (metabolism)
• Gastric Mucosa (metabolism)
• Ghrelin
• Humans
• Immunoenzyme Techniques
• Neurosecretory Systems (metabolism)
• Peptide Hormones (biosynthesis, genetics)
• RNA, Messenger (genetics)
• RNA, Neoplasm (genetics)
• Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (methods)
• Stomach Neoplasms (metabolism)