ABSTRACT
Selective IgA deficiency was observed in 12 of 688 (1.7%) patients with celiac disease who were clinically undistinguishable from patients with celiac disease with normal IgA levels. This high prevalence of IgA deficiency in patients with celiac disease makes serum IgA assay advisable when screening for celiac disease is performed by measurement of antigliadin antibodies or anti-IgA endomysium antibodies. Similarly, subjects with IgA deficiency should be considered at risk of celiac disease.
Subject(s)
Celiac Disease/complications , IgA Deficiency/complications , Adolescent , Age Factors , Celiac Disease/diet therapy , Celiac Disease/immunology , Chi-Square Distribution , Child , Child, Preschool , Confidence Intervals , Cross-Sectional Studies , Diet, Protein-Restricted , Follow-Up Studies , Gliadin/immunology , Glutens/administration & dosage , Humans , IgA Deficiency/blood , Immunoglobulin A/blood , Immunoglobulin G/blood , Immunoglobulin M/blood , Infant , Intestinal Diseases/complications , Intestinal Diseases/immunology , Muscle Fibers, Skeletal/immunology , Myofibrils/immunology , Prevalence , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs), ploidy and proliferative activity in breast carcinomas. STUDY DESIGN: AgNOR staining was performed in 25 cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast, and several features were quantified by image analysis: nuclear area, mean value of the number of AgNORs (M_N_Ag), area of AgNORs (A_Ag), area of AgNOR per nucleus (A_Ag/N), A_Ag variance (A_Ag_V) and coefficient of variation of AgNOR area per nucleus (CV_A_Ag/N). These findings were correlated with ploidy and proliferative activity obtained by flow cytometry, also quantifying the latter with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Comparison of AgNORs with size of the tumor and lymph node status was also made RESULTS: We observed a good correlation between M_N_Ag and A_Ag with ploidy (P < .001), M_N_Ag and A_Ag with S-phase fraction (SPF) (P < .001), A_Ag with S+G2M (P < .02) and PCNA with M_N_Ag (P < .05). The mean value of A_Ag allowed division of the cases into two groups: diploid (D) and near diploid (ND) with low SPF (A_Ag < or = 2.50 microns2), and D and ND with high SPF and aneuploidy (A) (A_Ag > 2.50 microns2) (P < .05). There was a statistically significant correlation between M_N_Ag and A_Ag and between tumor size and lymph node metastases (P < .05). CONCLUSION: AgNORs correlate with various cell cycle and clinicopathologic features and will be used eventually as prognostic markers in breast cancer.