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Relationship between the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and survivin in primary pterygium
Cristina Maxia1, Maria Teresa Perra, Paolo Demurtas
1Department of Cytomorphology, University of Cagliari Medical School, Cagliari, Italy. cmaxia@unica.it
Purpose:
To investigate the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in a group of 93 Ecuadorian primary pterygia and to evaluate a possible association between COX-2 and survivin.
Methods:
Primary pterygium samples were treated for the immunohistochemical evaluation of COX-2 and survivin. Mouse monoclonal antibody to COX-2 and rabbit polyclonal antibody to survivin were used. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS statistical software package, version 15.0.
Results:
In our study, 63 (67.7%) primary pterygia samples were positive for COX-2 staining, and 70 (75.3%) specimens were positive for survivin expression. In the group of pterygia with survivin immunostaining, there were 55 (78.6%) samples with COX-2 expression. The staining of both COX-2 and survivin was localized in the lower and middle layers of the epithelium. When analyzed by Fisher's exact test, the expression of COX-2 showed a strong significant correlation with survivin (p=0.0002).
Conclusions:
These data, showing a significant correlation between COX-2 and survivin in primary pterygium, suggest that pterygium may originate through an anti-apoptotic mechanism.
