PMID: 26339370Sep 5, 2015Paper

Effects of hypoxia and its relationship with apoptosis, stem cells, and angiogenesis on the thymus of children with congenital heart defects: a morphological and immunohistochemical study

International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology
A Bahar CeyranHakan Ceyran

Abstract

The thymus slowly involutes with age after puberty. Various stress conditions accelerate the involution of the thymus and cause changes in the histologic structure of the gland. The present study performed histomorphological and immunohistochemical (IHC) evaluations of the thymus glands removed during surgical repair in patients with cyanotic or acyanotic congenital heart disease (CHD). The thymus glands in the hypoxic group were compared to those in the non-hypoxic group. This study suggested that the activation of HIF-1 alpha promotes tumor progression and impair prognosis due to the inhibition of apoptosis, increased population of stem cells, and induction of angiogenesis also suggested that inactivation of HIF-1 alpha in tumor-infiltrated tissues could halt tumor progression and improve prognosis. The study included 76 thymus glands removed from patients who underwent an operation due to CHD. Of these cases, 38 had cyanotic CHD, and constituted the hypoxic group. The remaining 38 patients had acyanotic CHD, and constituted the non-hypoxic group. IHC procedures were performed for HIF-1 alpha, FoxP3, CD44, Bcl-2, and CD34. There were statistically significant differences between the hypoxic and non-hypoxic groups only in term...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Risk Assessment

Sensitive and accurate biomarkers used in cardiovascular risk prediction can potentially be used to manage the risk of cardiovascular disease. Discover the latest research on Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Risk Assessment here. Discover the latest research on Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Risk Assessment here.

Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis

BCL-2 Family Proteins

BLC-2 family proteins are a group that share the same homologous BH domain. They play many different roles including pro-survival signals, mitochondria-mediated apoptosis and removal or damaged cells. They are often regulated by phosphorylation, affecting their catalytic activity. Here is the latest research on BCL-2 family proteins.

Birth Defects

Birth defects encompass structural and functional alterations that occur during embryonic or fetal development and are present since birth. The cause may be genetic, environmental or unknown and can result in physical and/or mental impairment. Here is the latest research on birth defects.