title: Glycodelin expression in pregnant patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: a case-control study.
abstract: We aimed to evaluate glycodelin immunostaining in pregnant women with a first diagnosis of cervical intraephitelial neoplasia (CIN) and to correlate the expression of CIN with Ki-67 and glycodelin immunostaining. A retrospective case-control study was performed including 20 patients with natural pregnancy and with first time onset of CIN occurring not later than 16 gestational weeks. The control group included 20 non-pregnant patients matched for age, parity, smoking status and number of previous sexual partners. Exclusion criteria included previous cervical treatment, immunocompromised status and chronic hepatitis B and/or C. Staining for Glycodelin and for Ki-67 was expressed using a classification based on the distribution of positivity on a semi-quantitative three-point scale. An inverse relationship was observed between glycodelin immunostaining and CIN grade in pregnant patients (p = 0.01), with a significantly higher expression in CIN1 than in CIN2 and CIN3, but not in non-pregnant patients (p = 0.81). Positivity for Ki-67 was less intense in pregnant than in non-pregnant patients. A significant inverse relationship was observed between glycodelin immunostaining and Ki-67 expression (p = 0.02). We suggest that the higher expression of glycodelin in pregnancy is related to a lower proliferative activity in CIN, which is probably associated to hormonal status of pregnancy. Further clinical studies are needed to support these findings.
authors.affiliation: a Woman's Health Sciences Department, Università Politecnica delle Marche , Ancona , Italy .
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciavattini
authors.affiliation: b Gynecologic Oncology Unit, Centro di Riferimento Oncologico, National Cancer Institute , Aviano , Italy .
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sopracordevole
authors.affiliation: a Woman's Health Sciences Department, Università Politecnica delle Marche , Ancona , Italy .
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Di Giuseppe
authors.affiliation: c Department of Clinical and Molecular Sciences , and.
authors.forename: Guendalina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lucarini
authors.affiliation: d Division of Anatomic Pathology, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health , Pathological Anatomy, Università Politecnica delle Marche , Ancona , Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zizzi
authors.affiliation: a Woman's Health Sciences Department, Università Politecnica delle Marche , Ancona , Italy .
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moriconi
authors.affiliation: d Division of Anatomic Pathology, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Public Health , Pathological Anatomy, Università Politecnica delle Marche , Ancona , Italy.
authors.forename: Gaia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Goteri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D000071816:Glycodelin / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000071816:Glycodelin; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen
keywords: Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia; Ki-67; glycodelin; pregnancy