Mucin Histochemistry of Human Gallbladder: Changes in Adenocarcinoma, Cystic Fibrosis, and Cholecystitis2

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Abstract
The type and distribution of epithelial mucins in the gallbladder were investigated with a variety of histochemical techniques. Adenocarcinoma, cystic fibrosis, mucocele, and cholecystitis were among the lesions studied. The apical cytoplasm in the surface epithelium and the surface mucous layer of apparently normal gallbladders showed staining indicative of sulfomucin. The increased secretions in these sites in patients with cystic fibrosis, mucocele, and inflammation stained similarly. The increased numbers of goblet cells in the surface epithelium under pathologic conditions showed staining suggestive of carboxymucin. Cells in the mucous glands of the lamina propria, particularly in the neck area, appeared to secrete several mucosubstances with the reactivity of carboxymucin, or neutral mucin. Occasional cells contained a mixture of these substances. In contrast, carboxymucin was the predominant acid mucosaccharide identified in adenocarcinoma of the gallbladder. Staining indicative of sulfomucins and carboxymucins was most clearly delineated with a high iron diamine-alcian blue sequence. Satisfactory reactions were obtained with several routine fixatives, but differentiation of sulfomucins and carboxymucins was most easily appreciated in formalin-fixed tissues. This fixative also appeared morphologically to enhance the preservation of intracellular mucin and mast cell granules.