Tischler A S, Ruzicka L A, Van Pelt C S, Sandusky G E
Department of Pathology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.
Lab Invest. 1990 Jul;63(1):44-51.
Both epinephrine (E) and norepinephrine (NE) cells in the rat adrenal medulla are able to proliferate in response to pharmacologic stimulation. However, previous biochemical studies have suggested that drug-induced or spontaneous pheochromocytomas in rats are almost invariably NE-producing. To resolve these apparently conflicting data, immunocytochemical techniques were utilized to establish functional profiles of adrenal medullary lesions classified as pheochromocytoma or nodular hyperplasia in rats treated chronically with a phosphodiesterase inhibitor which induced pheochromocytomas. Sixteen of 17 pheochromocytomas and all hyperplastic nodules stained positively for tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine beta-hydroxylase, consistent with an ability to produce NE. No lesion of either type stained for phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase, consistent with an inability to produce epinephrine. Lesions of both types showed variable staining for chromogranin proteins. The findings indicate that qualitative functional differences cannot be used to discriminate hyperplastic nodules from small pheochromocytomas in rats. Some lesions currently classified as hyperplastic nodules might in fact be small pheochromocytomas. Others might represent diffuse hyperplasia within pre-existing islands of NE-cells in a background of hyperplastic epinephrine-cells.
大鼠肾上腺髓质中的肾上腺素（E）细胞和去甲肾上腺素（NE）细胞都能够对药物刺激作出增殖反应。然而，先前的生化研究表明，大鼠中药物诱导的或自发性嗜铬细胞瘤几乎都产生NE。为了解决这些明显相互矛盾的数据，我们利用免疫细胞化学技术，对用磷酸二酯酶抑制剂长期处理诱导嗜铬细胞瘤的大鼠中，分类为嗜铬细胞瘤或结节性增生的肾上腺髓质病变建立功能概况。17个嗜铬细胞瘤中的16个以及所有增生性结节对酪氨酸羟化酶和多巴胺β-羟化酶呈阳性染色，这与产生NE的能力一致。两种类型的病变均未对苯乙醇胺N-甲基转移酶染色，这与无法产生肾上腺素一致。两种类型的病变对嗜铬粒蛋白均呈现可变染色。这些发现表明，在大鼠中，不能用定性功能差异来区分增生性结节和小嗜铬细胞瘤。一些目前分类为增生性结节的病变实际上可能是小嗜铬细胞瘤。其他病变可能代表在增生性肾上腺素细胞背景下，预先存在的NE细胞岛中的弥漫性增生。
