Immunohistochemical expression of glucose transporter 1 in keratin-producing odontogenic cysts.

Beatriz Vera-Sirera,Francisco Vera-Sempere,Leopoldo Forner-Navarro

doi:10.1186/s12903-016-0191-2

Beatriz Vera-Sirera, Francisco Vera-Sempere + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/s12903-016-0191-2

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Abstract

BackgroundKeratin-producing odontogenic cysts (KPOCs) are a group of cystic lesions that are often aggressive, with high rates of recurrence and multifocality. KPOCs included orthokeratinised odontogenic cyst (OOC) and parakeratotic odontogenic cysts, which are now considered true tumours denominated keratocystic odontogenic tumours (KCOTs). GLUT1 is a protein transporter that is involved in the active uptake of glucose across cell membranes and that is overexpressed in tumours in close correlation with the proliferation rate and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging results.MethodsA series of 58 keratin-producing odontogenic cysts was evaluated histologically and immunohistochemically in terms of GLUT1 expression. Different data were correlated using the beta regression model in relation to histological type and immunohistochemical expression of GLUT1, which was quantified using two different morphological methods.ResultsKPOC cases comprised 12 OOCs and 46 KCOTs, the latter corresponding to 6 syndromic and 40 sporadic KCOTs. GLUT1 expression was very low in OOC cases compared with KCOT cases, with statistical significant differences when quantification was considered. Different GLUT1 localisation patterns were revealed by immunostaining, with the parabasal cells showing higher reactivity in KCOTs. However, among KCOTs cases, GLUT1 expression was unable to establish differences between syndromic and sporadic cases.ConclusionsGLUT1 expression differentiated between OOC and KCOT cases, with significantly higher expression in KCOTs, but did not differentiate between syndromic and sporadic KCOT cases. However, given the structural characteristics of KCOTs, we hypothesised that PET imaging methodology is probably not a useful diagnostic tool for KCOTs. Further studies of GLUT1 expression and PET examination in KCOT series are needed to confirm this last hypothesis.

Highlights

Keratin-producing odontogenic cysts (KPOCs) are a group of cystic lesions that are often aggressive, with high rates of recurrence and multifocality
Keratin-producing odontogenic cysts (KPOCs) form a heterogeneous group of cystic lesions that are often aggressive in character, with high rates of recurrence and multifocality [1], associated to a marked proliferative activity [2, 3]
In assessing the expression by the epithelial thickness percentage erythrocyte glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1)+ (Table 2) (Fig. 2), we found that odontogenic cyst (OOC) cases have a smaller thickness (31.46 ± 19.94 %) with GLUT1+ immunostaining than keratocystic odontogenic tumour (KCOT) cases (56.61 ± 22.34 %), and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.002)

Summary

Introduction

Keratin-producing odontogenic cysts (KPOCs) are a group of cystic lesions that are often aggressive, with high rates of recurrence and multifocality. Keratin-producing odontogenic cysts (KPOCs) form a heterogeneous group of cystic lesions that are often aggressive in character, with high rates of recurrence and multifocality [1], associated to a marked proliferative activity [2, 3]. As a primary energy source, enters intracellularly by a family of transporters called GLUTs, of which at least 13 members are know with cell-specific expression [7] Within these families, GLUT1 or erythrocyte glucose transporter is over-expressed in tumours, in malignant lesions, as glucose is the main energetic source of these neoplastic growths [8]. In our knowledge, GLUT1 expression has not been investigated in KPOCs with a high rate of recurrence, which are presently regarded as a true odontogenic tumours with a high probability of relapse [1, 4, 5]

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