Molecular Pathology, Vol 51, Issue 1 50-52, Copyright © 1998 by Journal of Clinical Pathology
Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 in the inflammatory pseudotumour of the lung
E Pilozzi, A Stoppacciaro, E Rendina and LP Ruco
Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Patologia, Universita La Sapienza, Roma, Italy.
Inflammatory pseudotumour of the lung is a lesion mainly composed of
histiocytes. Histiocyte accumulation may arise from local proliferation of
migratory cells, from cytokine induced recruitment of monocytes from the
systemic circulation, or both. Cell proliferation was investigated with
Ki-67 immunostaining and cytokine production with reverse
transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in two cases of inflammatory
pseudotumour of the lung. It was found that the two lesions were composed
mainly of non-proliferating (Ki-67 non-binding) macrophages that stained
positive for CD68, CD14, CD4, and mannose receptor. Both cases contained
mRNA transcripts for monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), a monocyte
chemoattractant, and for interleukin 6 (IL-6), an inducer of plasma cell
differentiation. One of the two cases also contained mRNA transcripts for
IL-8, a neutrophil chemoattractant. These findings are consistent with the
possibility that accumulation of non-proliferating histiocytes induced by
MCP-1 is one of the pathogenic events occurring in inflammatory
pseudotumour of the lung.
