title: Expression of the addisonian autoantigen in human adrenal tumors.
abstract: Sera of patients with Addison's disease contain autoantibodies recognizing antigen(s) in the adrenal cortex. In the present study we have examined the antigen expression in normal (n = 6) and pathological human adrenal tissues (n = 24) and also in the human steroid-producing adrenocortical cell line NCI-H295. Sera from two patients with Addison's disease were selected as they strongly stained the human adrenal gland and identified a 54 kDa autoantigen previously demonstrated as 21-hydroxylase. These sera reacted with normal human adrenal cortex (n = 6), all hyperplasias (n = 5) and all the adrenocortical cancers (n = 9), whereas slight or no reactivity was observed in the adenomas without any detectable excess of peripheral steroids (n = 4). Both patient sera reacted in an identical manner with each tissue specimen and they also reacted strongly with the steroid-producing cell line. The data demonstrate that the expression of the Addisonian autoantigen correlates with the functional activity of adrenocortical neoplasms. Furthermore they suggest, that immunohistochemical stainings for steroid-producing enzymes may be clinically useful in the characterization of adrenal lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Winqvist
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rastad
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Tibell
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kämpe
mesh_terms: D000224:Addison Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000276:immunology*; D000306:Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D001324:Autoantigens