Detection and comparison of cut‐off values for total AgNOR area/nuclear area and AgNOR number/nucleus in benign thyroid nodules and normal thyroid tissue

Abstract

Argyrophilic nucleolar organising region associated proteins (AgNORs) are of interest in a variety of diseases including thyroid disorders. We have investigated the cut-off values for AgNOR count and with a new approach, Total AgNOR area/nuclear area (TNORa/Na) proportions to discriminate thyrocytes obtained from benign thyroid nodules and normal thyroid tissue. Thirty patients whose fine needle aspiration (FNA) materials were compatible with a benign lesion (named as goiter group) and 30 controls (subjects with normal thyroid tissue) were included. In the control group, biopsy material was obtained from histologically normal thyroid gland operated on because FNA material was compatible with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). These samples were stained for AgNOR and 100 nuclei per individual were examined. Both AgNOR values for individual cells and cut-off values were detected for each group. Patients with goiter had significantly (P<0.001) higher AgNOR count (2.1 ± 0.6%) and TNORa/Na (6.1 ± 1.5%) than the control groups (1.4 ± 0.2 and 3.0 ± 0.4, respectively). The cut-off values were <1.5 for AgNOR count and <3.8 for TNORa/Na in thyrocytes of the controls. This modified method is an easy and reliable method for discriminating various thyroid disorders, including the differentiation of benign thyroid nodules from malignant ones. It also helps to discriminate thyrocytes obtained from benign nodules from normal thyroid tissue, aiding accurate localisation of sampling in FNA material.

Nuclear AgNOR protein enhancement in nucleoplasms of peripheral blood lymphocytes of babies/children with down syndrome

“…Therefore, AgNOR protein quantity present during interphase represents a valuable parameter of cell kinetics and it is routinely used to determine nucleolar activity and cell proliferation (Derenzini et al, ; Ofner et al, ). Morphometric analysis of AgNOR proteins in interphase in cancer cells has been used to identify various benign and malignant lesions, to establish prognoses, and to determine the proliferative activity of cells (Cucer et al, ; Derenzini et al, ; Eroz et al, ). In recent studies, morphometric analysis of AgNOR protein quantity has been also used to evaluate cellular activity in other cell types such as hair root cells of human (Eroz et al, ).…”

Evaluation of the Long-term Growth Potential of Benign Non-toxic Thyroid Nodules by the AgNOR Method; an 11-year Follow-up Study

“…Since then, this finding has been confirmed by several other groups [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. The widespread application of the technique has been hindered by the relatively wide overlap between AgNOR values of the benign and malignant groups [31].…”

May argyrophilic nucleolar organizing region-associated protein synthesis be used for selecting the most reliable dose of drugs such as rhamnetin in cancer treatments?

“…Alterations in AgNOR protein amounts also refl ect the metabolic activities of the cells. We performed various numbers of studies on malign and benign lesions (41)(42)(43)(44)(45). In these studies, we evaluated mean AgNOR number and TAA/NA ratio as a new approach that may contribute to routine cytopathology for determining the proliferation activity of cells in malignant and benign lesions.…”