ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Preservation of homeostasis status in the skin needs an equilibrium of keratinocyte proliferation, differentiation, necrosis and apoptosis. Disturbance of these regulatory mechanisms may lead to keratinocyte neoplastic and hyperproliferative diseases. Pigment epithelium-derived factor is a glycoprotein that is endogenously produced in different tissues and has a variety of biological effects in different diseases. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the keratinocyte expression of pigment epithelium-derived factor in normal skin and three epidermal hyperproliferative diseases, namely, psoriasis, verrucae and squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: This study included skin biopsy samples from 80 participants who were divided into four equal groups; each containing 20 samples. The first group included skin biopsies from normal skin, the second group from psoriatic lesions, the third group from verruca vulgaris and the fourth group from squamous cell carcinoma. All tissue samples were stained with hematoxylin and eosin stain and later immunohistochemically for pigment epithelium-derived factor expression. RESULTS: Scores of pigment epithelium-derived factor expression were lower in squamous cell carcinoma and verruca and psoriasis than normal skin with a significant difference (P = 0.04). In addition, the pattern of pigment epithelium-derived factor expression was mainly cytoplasmic in normal skin with a significant difference with that seen in psoriasis, squamous cell carcinoma and verruca vulgaris (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Pigment epithelium-derived factor may play a role in keratinocyte differentiation.
Subject(s)
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/metabolism , Eye Proteins/metabolism , Nerve Growth Factors/metabolism , Psoriasis/metabolism , Serpins/metabolism , Skin Neoplasms/metabolism , Skin/metabolism , Warts/metabolism , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Biopsy , Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology , Case-Control Studies , Cytoplasm/metabolism , Female , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Keratinocytes/metabolism , Male , Middle Aged , Psoriasis/pathology , Retrospective Studies , Skin/pathology , Skin Neoplasms/pathology , Warts/pathology , Young AdultABSTRACT
Varicocele has a common association with male infertility, but its exact role is still debated. Apoptosis has been suggested as one of the mechanisms of varicocele-associated infertility. Granulysin is a molecule that plays a role in apoptosis with no previous study about its role in male infertility. This case-controlled study aimed to assess seminal plasma granulysin level in infertile patients with varicocele. This study involved 90 men that were allocated into fertile normozoospermic men (n = 20), infertile men without varicocele (n = 30) and infertile men with varicocele (n = 40). These men were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, semen analysis and estimation of seminal granulysin. In general, seminal granulysin level was significantly elevated in infertile men compared with fertile men. Infertile men with varicocele showed significantly higher seminal granulysin compared with infertile men without varicocele, in bilateral varicocele cases and in grade III varicocele. Seminal granulysin level was negatively correlated with sperm concentration, sperm motility, sperm normal forms percentage and testicular volumes. It is concluded that increased seminal granulysin has a negative impact on spermatogenesis in infertile men in general and in infertile men associated with varicocele in particular.
