Expression and Significance of Endoglin (CD105) in Human Glioma

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of CD105 in human glioma. Methods The immunohisto-chemical technique was used to determine the expression of CDl05 in 58 cases of glioma and 10 specimens of normal brain tissue. The expression of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells associated antigen (CD34) was also measured and compared with the expression of CD105. Results ①The expression of CD105 was negative in all the normal brain tissues and positive in all the glioma tissues. The microvessel density immunostained by CD105 (CD105-MVD) under high-power field (×200) in glioma of grades Ⅰ～Ⅳ were 6.33±2.97, 10.69±2.88, 19.13±5.14 and 25.13±5.51 respectively. CD105-MVD was positively related to the pathological grades of gliomas (r=0.834, P0.01) and significantly different from each other among the gliomas of different grades (P0.01). ②The expression of CD34 in both the glioma and normal brain tissues was positive. The MVD immunostained by CD34 (CD34-MVD) under high-power field (×200) in glioma of grade Ⅰ～Ⅳ were 10.60±4.72, 16.65±4.40, 28.53±7.72 and 38.95±7.98 respectively, and increased with the rise of pathological grades of gliomas (r=0.571, P0.05). There was significant difference in CD34-MVD between each of the gliomas of grades Ⅱ～Ⅳ and normal brain tissues (9.80 3.52) (P0.01), and among the gliomas of different grades (P0.01) except between the gliomas of grades Ⅰ and Ⅱ. ③CD105-MVD was correlated more closely to the pathological grades of gliomas as compared with CD34-MVD (u1.96, P0.05). Conclusion CD105 used as a specific endothelial marker is superior to CD34 and the powerful marker to quantify the angiogenesis in human glioma.[