Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide and neuropeptide-Y, as possible mediators in laryngeal oedema. An immunofluorescence study.

Little attention has been paid to the autonomic innervation of the human vocal cord. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and Neuropeptide-Y (NPY) are of interest because of their association with the autonomic nervous system. These neuropeptides have not been studied in the human vocal cord by immunofluorescence technique. Both neuropeptides were found in the connective tissue close to the basal layer of the mucosa, around glandular structures and arterial walls. Comments are made about the role these peptides might play in the physiopathology of vocal cord oedema.

Persistence of injectable collagen in the human larynx: a histopathologic study.

This is a report of the histologic findings in a human larynx that had undergone collagen injection for glottic insufficiency 14 months prior to autopsy. The patient's management before augmentation with collagen included extended supraglottic laryngectomy, radiation therapy, and Polytef injection. Connective tissue changes secondary to other forms of treatment were apparent bilaterally and changes limited to the site of collagen injection were identified. There have been reports of persistence of injected collagen in the canine larynx at 1 year but this is the only study documenting persistence in a human subject. The implant appeared homogeneous and was easily distinguished from host collagen and the reactive fibrosis associated with particulate Polytef. These findings are similar to those observed in the canine model and suggest that there is persistence of injected collagen in the human larynx.

Variation and frequency of cytokeratin polypeptide patterns in human squamous non-keratinizing epithelium.

The squamous non-keratinizing epithelium of the human upper digestive tract was analyzed for keratin-like cytoskeletal proteins (cytokeratins) by both high resolution one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The Triton/high salt-insoluble portion of pure epithelial homogenates contains a number of SDS- and urea-extractable polypeptides, whose two-dimensional gel pattern (NEpHG/SDS) typically represents a defined subset of human cytokeratins. The cytoskeletal preparations of epithelial tissue samples obtained from different individuals were found to be uniform with respect to their content of cytokeratin polypeptides 55.0 kD/basic, 52.0 kD/acidic, and 49.0 kD/acidic. However, we have observed that four basic members of apparent molecular weight 60.0, 59.0, 56.5, and 56.0 kD occur at an inconstant rate. Consequently, the cytokeratin polypeptide patterns appeared highly variable as a result of the presence of constant plus compositionally different subsets of inconstant members. From the analysis of cytoskeletal portions of more than 300 individual tissue samples we demonstrate eight different keratin-like polypeptide patterns including their frequencies and propose the existence of no more than nine. These, most probably, encompass all the possible inter-individual variations to which the cytokeratins of this type of epithelium will combine for forming intermediate-sized filaments in vivo. We furthermore hypothesize that the observed variation of cytokeratin patterns may reflect a polymorphism of genes coding for the variable keratin-like polypeptide members.

Vocal cord polyps: biochemical and histologic evaluation.

The stratified squamous epithelium covering vocal cord polyps can vary from normal to hyperplastic and keratinized. We have analyzed the histology and cytokeratins of 11 of these polyps. Cytokeratins were separated on one-dimensional SDS-acrylamide gels to determine molecular weights. There was significant heterogeneity in the cytokeratins present in the different polyps. Comparison of histologic findings and cytokeratin content showed a correlation between extent of keratinization and presence of high molecular weight cytokeratins. We conclude that the epithelium of vocal cord polyps exhibit patterns of cytokeratins characteristic of both hyperproliferation and abnormal states of differentiation, which are mirrored by histologic variations, and that vocal cord polyps are a heterogeneous group of benign lesions.

The soft tissue/cartilage relationship in the laryngeal glottis.

A study of 93 larynges obtained at autopsy was made with regard to the proportion of cartilage and soft tissue in the glottis. The relevant measurements showed that the cartilage formed 48 per cent of the glottic opening and soft tissue (vibrating portion of the vocal cord) formed 52 per cent. The importance of this relationship to the classification and origin of laryngeal cancer is discussed, as is its relation to vocal cord nodules.