Quantitative analysis of silver stained nucleolar organiser regions: a reliable marker of cell proliferation and a promising prognostic parameter in tumour pathology

Abstract

Central nervous system involvement by Mycoplasma pneumoniae I read the article by Fink et al' with interest. I am surprised that their study population did not, except for a single case of Guillain-Barre syndrome, include patients with encephalitis, which is considered to be the main type of the central nervous system (CNS) involvement by Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children,2 despite the fact that their subjects were mainly children. When discussing CNS involvement by M pneumoniae, particularly in children, it is vital that patients with encephalitic episodes are examined as well. Recently, my research group studied CNS involvement by M pneumoniae using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR),3 and found that patients with encephalitis, in whom onset of neurological symptoms occurred within seven days of the onset of fever, exhibited a significantly higher incidence of mycoplasma DNA in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) than patients with later onset of fever.4 Fink et al stated that six of seven patients with confirmed M pneumoniae infection reported a febrile illness or upper respiratory tract infection six to 14 days before the onset of neurological symptoms. Our data suggest that in most, but by no means all, of their patients mycoplasma DNA may not be detectable in the CSF. We are of the opinion that the presence of mycoplasma DNA in CSF is not evidence of a direct, invasive mechanism. Nevertheless, the clinical characteristics of illnesses involving the CNS or other factors, such as the interval between the onset offever and the onset ofthe neurological symptoms, should be taken into account before a conclusion is reached whether or not a direct invasive mechanism plays a role in CNS involvement by M pneumoniae.

Fractal Analysis and the Diagnostic Usefulness of Silver Staining Nucleolar Organizer Regions in Prostate Adenocarcinoma

“…In different other studies, the number of AgNOR signals provided significant [ 14 , 15 , 21 , 29 ] or insignificant [ 30 , 31 ] differences for malignant lesions of the prostate, with significantly higher values for high Gleason scores [ 14 , 15 , 21 ]. Compared to the direct counting of AgNOR signals, morphometric analysis allows a more objective and reproducible quantification on histological sections [ 17 , 32 ].…”

Factors Responsible for Modulation of Ribosomal RNA Transcription

“…The AgNOR proteins such as C23 and B23 are used as markers of tumor pathology because there is a close relationship between their expression and the rapidity of cell proliferation (DERENZINI et al 1989;TRERE 1998;CORTES-GUTIERREZ et al 2001). Moreover, a recent study aiming at evaluation of AgNORs in normal, post hepatitic, alcoholic cirrhosis and malignant liver tissue showed that AgNORs can act as a good marker in diagnosis of liver diseases, especially in differentiating post-hepatitic and alcoholic cirrhosis (MISRA et al 2003).…”

AgNOR measurements as indices of proliferation, ploidy and prognosis

“…4 Before dealing with the fundamental question about whether the numbers of interphase AgNOR dots reflect ploidy or proliferation, it must be emphasised that the numbers of discernible (and therefore countable) dots depend on at least five variables: * the actual number of NOR sites in the nucleus; * the level of rRNA transcriptional activity; * the degree NOR dispersion within the nucleus; * the spatial resolution of the optical system (microscope coupled to either image analyser or human observer); * control of the AgNOR staining technique.…”