PROLIFERATIVE AND ANTIGENIC PROPERTIES OF RECTAL CELLS IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC ULCERATIVE-COLITIS

  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 44  (11) , 5450-5454
Abstract
Two markers related to preneoplasia were studied simultaneously in ulcerative colitis (UC). The renewal of the rectal epithelial cells together with expression of 2nd-trimester fetal antigen (STFA) were evaluated in 9 patients with UC and 4 healthy subjects. Endoscopic biopsies were incubated with 3H-thymidine. Cell renewal was studied with microautoradiography and the antigenic properties of the cells were evaluated by indirect immunofluorescence. At the time of the study, all the UC patients were in a mildly active or in a quiescent stage of the disease; their biopsies did not show dysplastic or neoplastic changes in epithelial cells. STFA was expressed in 5 UC patients. The analysis of cell renewal in this group revealed a shift of the proliferative compartment towards the luminal surface of the colonic crypts. The patient group with STFA-negative reactions showed a pattern of cell proliferation similar to that observed in the controls. The expression of STFA in colonic mucosa evidently is associated with an expansion of the epithelial stem cell population or with arrested cell differentiation. It may represent a phenotypic marker of proneness of the mucosa toward neoplastic development.