Cleaved caspase-3 in lung epithelium of children who died with acute respiratory distress syndrome

Abstract

To investigate the extent of cleaved caspase-3 immunostaining in lung epithelial cells in children with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Observational study in sixteen children who died with acute respiratory distress syndrome and diffuse alveolar damage. Pediatric intensive care unit. Sixteen children with fatal acute respiratory distress syndrome and diffuse alveolar damage. None. Double immunohistochemistry for cleaved caspase-3 and (pan)cytokeratin in lung tissues obtained at autopsy. Spectral imaging was used for the quantification of immunohistochemistry colocalization of these markers. We found a wide range in the percentage of alveolar epithelial cell surface area with positive cleaved caspase-3 staining in the lungs of children with acute respiratory distress syndrome (from 1% to almost 20%). The degree of caspase-3 immunostaining in epithelial cells positively correlated with age. There is a high variability in the extent of classic apoptosis in lung epithelial cells in pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome, potentially in part dependent on age.