Background: Patients with chronic renal failure have elevated serum levels of intercellular adhesion molecules and hepatocyte growth factor. The aim of this study was to investigate immunohistochemically whether these substances are associated with amyloidosis A in this patient group.
Material/methods: Liver needle-biopsy specimens from 40 chronic renal-failure patients, 20 with amyloidosis A (Group I) and 20 without this disease (Group II), were investigated. Twenty control liver biopsies were obtained from healthy individuals (Group III). All specimens were immunohistochemically stained to determine the presence and density of hepatocyte growth factor and intercellular adhesion molecule-3.
Results: The levels of positivity for hepatocyte growth factor and intercellular adhesion molecule-3 in Groups I and II were significantly higher than the levels in the control group. Also, the Group I sections had significantly more cells that were positive for intercellular adhesion molecule-3 than the Group II sections (p<0.016). There was no significant difference between Groups I and II regarding the level of positivity for hepatocyte growth factor.
Conclusions: The fact that there was a higher density of intercellular adhesion molecule-3-positive cells in the patients with amyloidosis A indicates that this substance may be a microenvironmental factor in this disease. If this is true, regulating the serum level of this molecule may prevent amyloid A in chronic renal-failure patients.