As no large-scale study has yet been undertaken, we investigated human brain and astrocytomas for SPARC expression and associations with tumour grade, proliferation, vascular

density and patient survival. Methods: A spectrum of 188 WHO grade I–IV astrocytic tumours and 24 autopsy cases were studied by immunohistochemistry for SPARC, MIB-1 proliferation index and CD31-positive vessels. SPARC protein expression was confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot in 13 cases. Results: In normal brain, SPARC is expressed in cortical marginal glia, cerebellar Bergmann glia and focally in white matter but is absent in neurones or vessels. High AZD9668 SPARC expression levels

in the cytoplasm of astrocytic tumour cells decreased with the grade of malignancy but showed an increase with grade of malignancy in tumour vessels. SPARC negatively correlated with tumour proliferation but not with vascular density. While cytoplasmic SPARC staining was not associated with survival, vascular SPARC showed a significant association in the group of grade II–IV tumours (P = 0.02) and also in grade II astrocytomas alone (P = 0.01) with vascular SPARC associated Regorafenib with worse prognosis. Conclusions: SPARC is highly expressed in astrocytomas and decreases with tumour progression. We confirm an association of increased SPARC expression and decreased proliferation. While there is no association between the level of SPARC in the tumour cells 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase and patient survival, increased tumour vascular SPARC expression is associated with decreased patient survival. “
“Parkinson’s disease is now recognized as a major form of α-synucleinopathy involving both the central and peripheral

nervous systems. However, no research has focused on the posterior pituitary lobe (PPL), despite the fact that this organ also plays an important role in systemic homeostasis. In the present study, we aimed to distinguish phosphorylated α-synuclein (pαSyn)-positive deposits in the PPL, as is observed in Lewy body- and non-Lewy body-related disorders. PαSyn deposits were immunohistochemically analyzed using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded PPL specimens obtained from 60 autopsy cases. Among the cases with Lewy body-related disorders, PPL pαSyn deposits were observed in almost all cases of Parkinson’s disease (22/23), and in one case of dementia with Lewy bodies (1/1). On the other hand, only 3/36 cases of non-Lewy body-related disorders had pαSyn immunoreactivity in the PPL.