Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 28, 2017; 23(8): 1338-1344
Published online Feb 28, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i8.1338
TGR5 expression in benign, preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions of Barrett’s esophagus: Case series and findings
Shivali Marketkar, Dan Li, Dongfang Yang, Weibiao Cao
Shivali Marketkar, Dongfang Yang, Weibiao Cao, Department of Pathology, Rhode Island Hospital and Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, United States
Dan Li, Department of Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital and Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, United States
Author contributions: Marketkar S contributed to the design of the study, the data analysis and the interpretation of the data; Li D contributed to the design of the study and the completion of the experiments; Yang D performed the immunohistochemical staining; Cao W contributed to the design of the study, the data analysis and the interpretation of the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors approved the final version of the article to be published.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Rhode Island Hospital.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest exists.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Weibiao Cao, MD, Department of Pathology, Rhode Island Hospital and Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 593 Eddy St, APC12, Providence, RI 02903, United States. wcao@hotmail.com
Telephone: +1-401-4448578 Fax: +1-401-4445890
Received: July 13, 2016
Peer-review started: July 16, 2016
First decision: August 8, 2016
Revised: September 3, 2016
Accepted: September 28, 2016
Article in press: September 28, 2016
Published online: February 28, 2017
Processing time: 228 Days and 9.9 Hours
Abstract
AIM

To examined the bile acid receptor TGR5 expression in squamous mucosa, Barrett’s mucosa, dysplasia and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA).

METHODS

Slides were stained with TGR5 antibody. The staining intensity was scored as 1+, 2+ and 3+. The extent of staining (percentage of cells staining) was scored as follows: 1+, 1%-10%, 2+, 11%-50%, 3+, 51%-100%. A combined score of intensity and extent was calculated and categorized as negative, weak, moderate and strong staining. TGR5 mRNA was measured by real time PCR.

RESULTS

We found that levels of TGR5 mRNA were significantly increased in Barrett’s dysplastic cell line CP-D and EA cell line SK-GT-4, when compared with Barrett’s cell line CP-A. Moderate to strong TGR5 staining was significantly higher in high-grade dysplasia and EA cases than in Barrett’s esophagus (BE) or in low-grade dysplasia. Moderate to strong staining was slightly higher in low-grade dysplasia than in BE mucosa, but there is no statistical significance. TGR5 staining had no significant difference between high-grade dysplasia and EA. In addition, TGR5 staining intensity was not associated with the clinical stage, the pathological stage and the status of lymph node metastasis.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that TGR5 immunostaining was much stronger in high-grade dysplasia and EA than in BE mucosa or low-grade dysplasia and that its staining intensity was not associated with the clinical stage, the pathological stage and the status of lymph node metastasis. TGR5 might be a potential marker for the progression from BE to high-grade dysplasia and EA.

Keywords: TGR5; Esophageal adenocarcinoma; Bile acid

Core tip: The expression of a bile acid receptor TGR5 at moderate to strong intensity was significantly higher in high-grade dysplasia and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) cases than in BE or in low-grade dysplasia, suggesting that TGR5 may play an important role in the progression from Barrett’s esophagus to high-grade dysplasia and EA. TGR5 might be a potential marker for this progression. TGR5 staining intensity was not associated with the clinical stage, the pathological stage and the status of lymph node metastasis, indicating that TGR5 may not be a marker for the prognosis of EA.