Quantitative determination of water-soluble scavengers in neoplastic and non-neoplastic human breast tissue

✍ Scribed by C. G. Honegger; J. Torhorst; H. Langemann; A. Kabiersch; W. Krenger

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 603 KB
• Volume: 41
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.2910410509

✦ Synopsis

The water-soluble scavengers ascorbic acid (Asc), cysteine (Cys), glutathione (GSH) and uric acid (UA) as well as D N A content were determined in 40 breast tissue samples (neoplastic and non-neoplastic tissues from 20 patients). To allow proper homogenization to take place, a fixed number of sections was cut from a tissue cylinder of known diameter. Adjacent sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and the fractions of epithelium, fat and connective tissue were estimated as a percentage of the section area. Protein-free extracts were injected into a reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography system and scavengers quantified with 2 electrochemical detectors (gold and glassy carbon). D N A and all scavengers, except UA, were greatly increased in cancer tissues in nearly all cases. Amounts of Asc and GSH in neoplastic tissue correlated closely with D N A values and percentage of epithelium, those of Cys not so closely and those of U A not at all. We assume that Asc and GSH were located mainly in the epithelium, U A mainly in the extracellular space and Cys in both spaces. When values were expressed as pmol/g DNA, a parameter related to content per cell, values were higher in neoplastic than in non-neoplastic tissue for Asc (181 20 cases), GSH (l7/20) and Cys (14120) and lower in neoplastic tissue for U A (19/20). It is known that increased GSH protects cells against certain drugs in tissue cultures. For in vivo treatment the presence of increased Asc (and to a lesser extent Cys) in addition to GSH could be of importance.