Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.2.1.17 (lysozyme)
 21,489 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Fibrocystic disease of the breast in middle-aged women characteristically shows focal epithelial lesions of a very varied nature. The functional immunohistochemical changes in such lesions have been little studied. Focal Pregnancy-like Change in the breast has a striking morphological similarity to the secretory breast lobules in pregnancy and in lactation. We show that the epithelial cells in all the lesions of Focal Pregnancy-like Change studied simultaneously express secretory component, Ig A and J chain in their cytoplasm. Additionally these epithelial cells, unlike those in resting breast lobules, contain lysozyme and lactoferrin. All these phenotypic immunohistochemical changes in Focal Pregnancy-like Change resemble the breast lobules of late pregnancy and lactation. Possibly, the very focality of Focal Pregnancy-like Change reflects a peculiar and local sensitivity of 'resting' breast lobules to unidentified hormonal stimulation.
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PMID:Phenotypic expression of immune secretory function in focal pregnancy-like change of the human breast. 310 71

Mammary ductal foam cells are present in normal breast tissue as well as in a number of breast diseases. Such foam cells tend to be in particular abundance with fibrocystic changes of the breast. Foam cells may appear within duct lumens or plastered in cohesive masses along duct walls, simulating an epithelial structure. The nature and origin of these innocuous-appearing cells, based on morphologic studies, remain a controversy, for they appear to be of epithelial derivation. This study was undertaken to determine the nature of intraductal "foam" cells and their origin in the breast. Nine cases of adult fibrocystic disease were examined immunohistochemically with antibodies to cytokeratins (Mak-6, Cam 5.2), leukocyte common antigen, and the following macrophage antibodies: KP-1 (CD68), HAM 56, and MAC 387. The lysozyme and alpha-1-antitrypsin content of foam cells also was studied. The immunohistochemical data in this study confirm the macrophage character of these foam cells, which are positive for CD68, HAM 56, and MAC 387, lysozyme, and alpha-1-antitrypsin and negative for leukocyte-common antigen and cytokeratins.
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PMID:Mammary ductal foam cells: macrophage immunophenotype. 811 24