Search

Aims: Gastric mucin expression has been demonstrated in a group of endocervical glandular lesions. The aim of this study was to gain further insight into endocervical lesions with a gastric phenotype., Methods and Results: Various types of tunnel clusters (TC) were examined for gastric mucin by alcian blue/periodic acid-Schiff staining and immunohistochemistry for HIK1083. Five of 34 cases of TC expressed gastric mucin defined by PAS dominant neutral mucin and immunopositivity for pyloric gland mucin. Histologically, TC expressing gastric mucin showed lobular arrangements of small to medium-sized glands composed of mucin-rich columnar cells and were classified as Flumann's type A TC. Neither type B TC nor normal endocervical glands expressed PAS dominant neutral mucin and none of them was immunopositive for pyloric gland mucin. Five patients with type A TC of gastric phenotype ranged in age from 33 to 79 years (mean 58 years) and were multiparous. Type A TC of gastric phenotype, ranging from 2 to 4 mm in maximum diameter, were incidental findings in hysterectomy specimens., Conclusion: Type A TC of gastric phenotype could be related to lobular endocervical glandular hyperplasia of gastric phenotype. The pathogenesis of gastric metaplasia in TC remains unclear.

An excision biopsy was taken from a 59-year-old woman with a small dark-brown lesion on the anterior lip of the cervix. The histology revealed an ulcerated surface epithelium with a band-like infiltrate of pigment containing macrophages in the subepithelial zone. Histochemical examination of the specimen revealed that the pigment was ceroid. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first case report of ceroid granuloma of the uterine cervix.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA was ultrastructurally localized by the non-isotopic in situ hybridization technique in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens of verruca vulgaris of the skin, condyloma acuminatum of the penis and severe dysplasia of the uterine cervix. Biotinylated DNA probe cocktails were employed for the visualization of HPV-DNA, types 6 and 11 (HPV 6/11) and types 16 and 18 (HPV 16/18). The papillomavirus genus-specific antigen was also visualized by pre-embedding immunoelectron microscopy using rabbit antiserum. In verruca vulgaris, HPV antigen-positive 50-60 nm-particles of mature viral size were observed in the nuclei of the granular cells and parakeratotic cells with perinuclear haloes, whereas HPV 6/11 and HPV 16/18 DNA were negative. In condyloma acuminatum, the nuclei were positive for the HPV antigen and HPV 6/11 DNA, but were negative for HPV 16/18 DNA. More cells were labeled for the viral DNA than for the viral antigen. The ultrastructural observation indicated the presence of the naked (plasmid) viral DNA as fine particles sized 15-20 nm. In the dysplastic cervical mucosa, dot-like positivity of HPV 16/18 DNA was recognized. The HPV antigen and HPV 6/11 DNA were undetectable. HPV 16/18 DNA was localized in part of the nuclear chromatin. This pattern of localization may suggest integration of the viral DNA into the host cell DNA.

In this study using a panel of anticytokeratin antibodies and an indirect immunoperoxidase method, we examined cervical squamous epithelia including mature stratified epithelium, immature squamous metaplasia, CIN 1, 2 and 3, wart virus infection and squamous carcinoma. Changes from the normal patterns of staining were inconsistently seen in CIN 1 and 2, but in CIN 3 the changes were more marked, and consisted of a loss of stratification of the staining pattern and a patchy reduction in staining. Invasive carcinomas showed a similar staining pattern to CIN 3 lesions.

A selected group of 51 patients with histological features of cervical warty atypia was observed for 1 year. Initial features were compared with a cohort of 50 patients with CIN. Twenty-four patients showed resolution of the warty atypia, in 19 it remained unchanged, and in eight patients CIN or microinvasive disease was present on repeat biopsy. The DNA patterns obtained by tissue imprint of the initial biopsies and subsequent integrated densitometry, using a Vickers M85 scanning densitometer, showed that warty atypias could be objectively distinguished from CIN, but that the method could not predict the group of warty atypias that would resolve. There was no clinical feature or group of features which allowed a means of predicting the outcome of such lesions.