Apoptosis and bcl-2,p53 Protein Expression in Meningiomas

Objective To investigate the inter relationship between spontaneous apoptosis and bcl 2,p53 expression in meningiomas.Methods 40 cases of meningiomas were investigated for apoptosis index(AI) with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP biotinnick end labeling(TUNEL) as well as bcl 2 and p53 with immunohistochemical analysis.Results The apoptosis index was significantly high in high grade meningiomas than in the benign meningiomas( P 0.01).There was no significant difference between the subtypes of the benign meningiomas.p53 accumulation was significantly higher in atypical and malignant meningiomas( P 0.05).Apoptosis and p53 accumulation were not correlated with each other.The AI was significantly high in bcl 2 negative meningiomas than in bcl 2 positive meningiomas( P 0.05).Conclusion Apoptosis is an important phenomen in meningiomas and is associated with atypical or malignant changes of meningiomas.Immunohistochemical examination of p53 protein may help to predict the proliferative potential of meningioma.bcl 2 gene has shown to inhibit apoptosis in meningiomas.