title: Expression of immunoreactive activin A protein in remodeling lesions associated with interstitial pulmonary fibrosis.
abstract: The expression of activin A, one of the transforming growth factor-beta supergene family, was studied in various pulmonary conditions associated with interstitial pulmonary fibrosis (3 cases with diffuse alveolar damage, 6 cases with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and 1 case with pulmonary fibrosis associated with rheumatoid arthritis) using immunohistochemical techniques on paraffin-embedded sections. Controls consisted of 10 cases with normal pulmonary parenchyma, and 2 cases with primary pulmonary hypertension and 1 case with secondary pulmonary hypertension were also studied. The lung specimens from normal parenchyma weakly expressed immunoreactive activin A on the bronchiolar epithelium. In marked contrast, all of the specimens from cases with diffuse alveolar damage and interstitial pulmonary fibrosis demonstrated strong expression of activin A on metaplastic epithelium, hyperplastic smooth muscle cells, desquamated cells, and alveolar macrophages. Pulmonary arteries from patients with primary or secondary pulmonary hypertension showed abundant immunoreactive activin A on smooth muscle cells. These findings suggest a potential role for this growth factor, activin A, in the pathogenesis of pulmonary tissue remodeling associated with interstitial pulmonary fibrosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuse
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ikegami
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ohga
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hosoi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kida
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukayama
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagase
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ouchi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukuchi
mesh_terms: D028341:Activins; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications; D006133:Growth Substances / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007265:Inhibins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000473:pathology; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D006133:Growth Substances; D028341:Activins; D007265:Inhibins