The expression and meaning of CD68, CD163, CD57, and IgG4 in granulomatous lobular mastitis

The exact etiology and pathogenesis of granulomatous lobular mastitis (GLM) are yet to be illuminated. This study aimed to investigate CD68, CD163-positive M2 macrophages, CD57-positive natural killer (NK) cells, and IgG4 in GLM lesion tissue to explore their correlation with the occurrence and clinical features of GLM.

Surgical pathologic specimens of GLM were collected from patients admitted to Hunan Provincial People's Hospital between October, 2014 and October 2015. Based on the postoperative pathological diagnosis, the tissues were divided into 3 groups: the experimental group (GLM, n=36), control group 1 (plasma cell mastitis, PCM, n=17), and control group 2 (breast cystic hyperplasia, n=10). Immunohistochemical staining was carried out using Elivision super testing to detect CD68, CD163, CD57, and IgG4 expression in the pathological tissue samples. The relationship between clinical parameters, including age, reproductive condition, nipple retraction, and tumor size, and the expressions of CD68, CD163, CD57, and IgG4 was analyzed.

There was no obvious difference in the levels of CD68, CD163, and CD57 expression between the GLM group and the PCM group, although both groups had higher expression levels of expression than the breast cystic hyperplasia group (P<0.05). In the GLM group, the expression level of CD57 at 2 weeks-3 months was significantly higher than at ≤2 weeks (P<0.05). The expression level of CD57 in PCM patients >2 years after lactation was significantly higher than in patients ≤2 years after lactation (P<0.05). The level of IgG4 expression in GLM patients with nipple retraction was significantly higher than in those without nipple retraction (P<0.05).

Inflammatory cells are closely linked to the occurrence of GLM and PCM. In our study, both the GLM and PCM groups had low expression of IgG4, but the expression level of IgG4 in GLM patients with inverted nipples was significantly higher than that in patients without inverted nipples. This suggests that there may be two different clinical subtypes of GLM. Furthermore, our research also found that NK cells can provide a basis for GLM clinical staging.