Spangler E A, Rogers K S, Thomas J S, Pustejovsky D, Boyd S L, Shippen D E
Department of Small Animal Medicine & Surgery, Texas A&M University, College Station 77843-2128, USA.
J Vet Intern Med. 2000 Mar-Apr;14(2):146-50. doi: 10.1892/0891-6640(2000)014<0146:teaaad>2.3.co;2.
Telomerase enzyme activity is high in populations of cells that are dividing, and is low or undetectable in quiescent cell populations. Activation of telomerase in tissues that normally lack the capacity for self-renewal is strongly correlated with neoplasia. Telomerase activity can be detected in samples containing very small numbers of cells and studies of human patients suggest that measurement of telomerase activity may be useful for the evaluation of samples that can be obtained in a minimally invasive manner. This study compares the presence or absence of telomerase activity with cytologic evaluation of body cavity effusions, to determine if neoplasia is the underlying cause for the effusion in dogs and cats. Detection of telomerase in effusions was no more sensitive than cytologic evaluation for the identification of underlying neoplasia, and was less specific (telomerase assay: sensitivity = 50%, specificity = 83%; cytology: sensitivity = 50%, specificity = 100%). We conclude that although the telomerase assay may constitute a useful adjunctive test for the diagnosis of neoplasia in some dogs and cats with body cavity effusions, the results of this assay are not sufficiently reliable to be used as a sole diagnostic test.
端粒酶活性在正在分裂的细胞群体中较高，而在静止细胞群体中较低或无法检测到。在通常缺乏自我更新能力的组织中端粒酶的激活与肿瘤形成密切相关。端粒酶活性可以在含有极少量细胞的样本中检测到，对人类患者的研究表明，端粒酶活性的测量可能有助于评估以微创方式获取的样本。本研究比较了端粒酶活性的有无与体腔积液的细胞学评估结果，以确定肿瘤是否是犬猫积液的根本原因。在积液中检测端粒酶对于识别潜在肿瘤的敏感性并不高于细胞学评估，且特异性更低（端粒酶检测：敏感性 = 50%，特异性 = 83%；细胞学检查：敏感性 = 50%，特异性 = 100%）。我们得出结论，尽管端粒酶检测可能对某些患有体腔积液的犬猫肿瘤诊断构成有用的辅助检测，但该检测结果不够可靠，不能用作唯一的诊断检测。
