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Nucleolar Organizer Regions In Pituitary Gland Adenomas
Author(s) -
BAYINDIR C.,
DOGGAN Ö.,
ÜNAL F.,
DERVISOGLU S.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
cytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1365-2303
pISSN - 0956-5507
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2303.1992.tb00512.x
Subject(s) - nucleolus organizer region , nucleolar organizer region , pathology , pituitary gland , silver stain , magnification , adenoma , staining , biology , nucleolus , medicine , endocrinology , cytoplasm , microbiology and biotechnology , hormone , computer science , computer vision
Nucleolar organizer regions are DNA segments concerned with the synthesis of ribosomal RNA (rRNA). Some specific proteins related to NORs can be demonstrated by a silver technique and are then referred to as Ag‐NORs. the mean number of Ag‐NORs per cell has been used as a marker of cell proliferation in recent years and there is some evidence to suggest that Ag‐NOR counts can be used to differentiate between normal and neoplastic cells. Paraffin block sections of 42 pituitary gland adenomas and 24 normal adult pituitary glands have been examined using the Ag‐NOR staining technique. Touch imprints of nine adenomas and 12 normal adult pituitary glands were also examined using the same Ag‐NOR staining technique. Using light microscopy at x 2000 magnification, the Ag‐NORs were located as black dots in the cell nuclei and the mean number of Ag‐NORs per cell was determined. No significant difference was observed between blocked sections and imprints of adenomas or between imprints and paraffin sections of normal glands. However, a significant difference was observed between the mean number of Ag‐NORs in pituitary gland adenomas and normal glands in paraffin block sections and touch preparations ( P < 0.001). the modified Ag‐NOR technique can be a useful aid in the differential diagnosis between normal pituitary gland tissue and pituitary adenomas, especially during surgical operations.