Cui Junqi, Wang Xia, Rao Yamin, Ji Tianhai, Li Long
Department of Pathology, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Jan 28;8:746731. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.746731. eCollection 2021.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread across the world. Specimens of blood, body fluids and excreta received in the department of pathology undoubtedly increased the risk of infection, especially in some hospitals that are short of professional protection capability. Here we provided a new simple way for the sputum cytology test during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sputum samples from 30 patients with lung cancer were collected and divided into two groups, including the control group and the experimental group. Samples of the control group were processed in the biological safety cabinet, while the experimental group was put into the sealed specimen bag directly and pretreated with 75% medical alcohol. Then the cell morphology and tumor cell identification were analyzed by cell smears and liquid-based cell staining. The expression of cell antigens was determined by immunohistochemical staining.
Our result showed that both sputum samples in two groups exhibited complete cell structure and clear morphology according to the cell smear and liquid-based cell staining. In addition, the immunohistochemical result showed that cell antigens, including cytokeratin (CK), leukocyte common antigen (LCA), and thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF1), were specifically expressed in the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus, respectively. The tumor cells were distributed diffusely, and cell antigens were located accurately after pretreatment with 75% medical alcohol and were consistent with that of the control group.
Using 75% medical alcohol to pretreat sputum specimens has no obvious impact on cell morphology and antigens expression. Our study provided a new method for the sputum cytology test with no direct contact so as to protect medical staff against the virus during COVID-19 outbreak.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行继续在全球蔓延。病理科接收的血液、体液和排泄物标本无疑增加了感染风险，尤其是在一些缺乏专业防护能力的医院。在此，我们提供了一种在COVID-19大流行期间进行痰细胞学检查的新的简单方法。
收集30例肺癌患者的痰液样本，分为对照组和实验组。对照组样本在生物安全柜中处理，而实验组直接放入密封标本袋并用75%医用酒精预处理。然后通过细胞涂片和液基细胞染色分析细胞形态和肿瘤细胞鉴定。通过免疫组织化学染色测定细胞抗原的表达。
我们的结果表明，根据细胞涂片和液基细胞染色，两组痰液样本均呈现完整的细胞结构和清晰的形态。此外，免疫组织化学结果显示，细胞角蛋白（CK）、白细胞共同抗原（LCA）和甲状腺转录因子-1（TTF1）等细胞抗原分别在细胞膜、细胞质和细胞核中特异性表达。肿瘤细胞呈弥漫性分布，经75%医用酒精预处理后细胞抗原定位准确，与对照组一致。
用75%医用酒精预处理痰液标本对细胞形态和抗原表达无明显影响。我们的研究提供了一种无需直接接触的痰细胞学检查新方法，以便在COVID-19疫情期间保护医护人员免受病毒感染。
