Polypeptide YY (PYY) and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) in rectal carcinoids. An immunocytochemical study.

The frequency and distribution of polypeptide YY (PYY) and pancreatic polypeptide (PP) immunoreactive tumour cells of 14 small intestinal and of 27 rectal carcinoids were studied. All small intestinal and 14 rectal tumours were unreactive to both hormones. However, 13 rectal carcinoids contained a variable number of PP-immunoreactive cells. In four of these cases both PYY- and PP-immunoreactive cells were seen. The PP-immunoreactive cells greatly exceeded the number of PYY-immunoreactive cells. Two rectal carcinoids with PYY and PP immunoreactivities, but not the rest of the tumours, reacted also with an antiserum specific to the C-terminus of PP. This indicates that most PP immunoreactive rectal carcinoids lack the C-terminus sequence of the PP molecule.