Study of the expression of CD30 in pterygia compared to healthy conjunctivas

摘要

Purpose: The pterygium is characterizedby a fibrovascular neoformation from the bulbar conjunctiva into thecornea. The recent discovery that abnormal markers associated withtumor diseases are identified in the pterygium strengthens the theorythat the pterygium is a tumor-like disease rather than a degenerativedisease. The CD30 molecule has been identified in neoplastic and normalepithelial proliferating cells. The aim of this study was to determinethe expression of the CD30 molecule in the pterygium. Methods: Immunohistochemical stainingusing an antibody to CD30 and to the Ki-67 nuclear antigen wasperformed on 25 pterygial specimens and 10 healthy conjunctivas. Results: Strong immunostaining againstCD30 was observed in all pterygium specimens, in contrast to thehealthy conjunctivas that showed weak immono-positivity in only threecases. The staining was diffused, predominantly to the basalepithelium. The Ki-67 antigen was observed in the nucleus of the basalepithelium of the pterygial specimens, and no staining was observed inthe healthy conjunctiva. When serial sections were stained with CD30and Ki-67, the cells that expressed CD30 also expressed Ki-67. Conclusions: The present studyidentified for the first time the existence of CD30 molecules in thebasal epithelium of a pterygium. The fact that the positivity to Ki-67in the basal epithelium of the pterygium correlated with the CD30reactivity suggested that this protein could be associated with theuncontrolled cell proliferation of the epithelium in this pathology.The CD30 molecule could therefore be a suitable target to be inhibitedusing chimerical antibodies in pterygium diseases.