[Diagnostic application of detecting AgNOR in peripheral blood T lymphocyte in patients with esophageal carcinoma].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of the quantitative distribution of interphase AgNOR (argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions) has been widely used for diagnostic and prognostic purposes of tumor. It has been proven by tumor immunology that tumor can induce host immunosuppression. T lymphocyte immune activity can be reflected by detecting AgNOR expression in nucleolar organizer regions. There are few reports about AgNOR expression in peripheral blood T lymphocyte of the patients with esophageal carcinoma. In this investigation, AgNOR expression in peripheral blood T lymphocyte was systematically evaluated in a serial of patients with esophageal carcinomas to determine its value in diagnosis of the patients. METHODS: AgNOR expression in peripheral blood T lymphocyte of 276 patients with esophageal carcinoma and 75 healthy controls were measured by microphotometry with the technique of silver stain. At the same time, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) and tumor specific growth factor (TSGF) were also measured by microparticle enzyme immune analysis, bio-antibody sandwich, and chemo-chromatometry. RESULTS: (1) AgNOR expression in peripheral blood T lymphocyte of the patients with esophageal carcinoma (5.64+/-0.89) were much lower than that of control group (7.07+/-0.81)(P=0.000). The positive rate, sensitivity, and specificity were 67.4%, 0.674, and 0.920, respectively. Youden index was 0.59 and the area under receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.886. (2) The positive rate of AgNOR (67.4%) was higher than those of CEA (12.86%), SCC (15.04%), and TSGF (36.49%) in patients with esophageal carcinoma (P< 0.001). There was no relationship between AgNOR expression and CEA, SCC, and TSGF (P>0.05). (3) AgNOR expression has a higher positive rate in patients with esophageal carcinoma than the combined positive rate of CEA, SCC, and TSGF (P = 0.018), but has a similar positive rate with those of AgNOR+CEA, AgNOR+SCC, or AgNOR+CEA+SCC, with no statistical difference (P >0.05). Combination of all these four indicators is much superior to determination of AgNOR expression alone (P=0.000), its sensitivity, Youden index, and the area under receiver operator characteristic curve were 0.875, 0.77, and 0.955, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: There is notable immunosuppression in patient with esophageal carcinoma. Detecting AgNOR expression of peripheral blood T lymphocytes has value in cell immune function of esophageal carcinoma patients and suitable application value in screening and diagnosis of esophageal carcinoma patient. It is sophisticatal far screening method for esophageal carcinoma in combination with AgNOR SCC, CEA and TSGF detection.

[Influence of selenium-rich rice on transformation of umbilical blood B lymphocytes by Epstein-Barr virus and Epstein-Barr virus early antigen expression].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Selenium (Se), an antioxidant, is an essential trace element to human body. It can be used as an anti-aging agent and a tumor cell proliferation inhibitor. To further investigate the effect of selenium in cancer prevention, the authors observed the influence of Se-rich rice extract on the transformation of umbilical blood B lymphocytes stimulated by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and expression of EBV early antigen(EBV-EA) in Raji cells. METHODS: (1) Se-rich rice and general rice extract (dilution of 1:4 or 1:8) were added to mixture of EBV, and then umbilical blood mononuclear cells were added. Lymphoblasts transformation test was then performed. The inhibition rate of B lymphocytes transformation was calculated. (2) Raji cells stimulated by butyrate and croton oil were incubated with Se-rich rice extract. The EBV-EA positive expression rate and the inhibition rate were counted using indirect immunological flurescence method. RESULTS: The transformation of umbilical blood B lymphocytes stimulated by EBV was significantly inhibited by Se-rich rice extract at a concentration of 0.11 g/ml (1:8 diluted). The inhibition rate was 83.4% (P < 0.01), which was significantly higher than that of the control rice (63.1%) (P < 0.05). Se-rich rice extract showed significant inhibition on EBV-EA in Raji cells. As the extract concentration was at 0.016 microgram/ml, 0.078 g/ml, and 0.388 microgram/ml, the inhibition rates of EA were 2.85%, 12.88%, and 20.75%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The transformation of umbilical blood B lymphocytes stimulated by EB virus and expression of EBV-EA in Raji cells may be significantly inhibited by Se-rich rice extract, suggesting that Se-rich rice can be used for preventing nasopharyngeal carcinoma.