The aim of this study was to review our primary gastric lymphoma cases according to the new WHO classifications and to investigate the histopathological features of B-cell lymphomas. In addition, ...B-cell monoclonality was analyzed for immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene rearrangement using the polymerase chain reaction at the site of the lymphoma lesion, transitional lesion, and the non-lymphoma lesion. Specimens resected from 31 primary gastric lymphomas were examined. There were 28 cases (90.3%) of B-cell lymphoma and three cases (9.7%) of T-cell lymphoma. The B-cell lymphomas were classified as low-grade mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma (LGML) (9%), high-grade MALT lymphoma (HGML) (42%), and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (29%). Histopathologically, lymphoepithelial lesions (LEL) were higher in LGML (100%) than in DLBCL (22%), with statistical significance (p < 0.05). A monoclonal pattern of IgH rearrangement was detected in LGML (50.0.%), HGML (60.0%), and DLBCL (80.6%), with a statistically significant difference between LGML and DLBCL (p < 0.01). The IgH monoclonal pattern may reflect the gross appearance of lymphoma or the lymphoma infiltration depth. Superficial spreading and shallow growth in LGML may correspond to an oligoclonal pattern, and mass-forming and deep invasive growth in DLBCL may correspond to a more monoclonal pattern.
Although cells of the osteoblast lineage express functional ERs, direct effects of estrogen on bone formation remain obscure. In the present study, we have investigated estrogen effects on ...osteoblastic and adipocytic differentiation from a mouse bone marrow stromal cell line, ST-2, which had been manipulated to overexpress either human ER alpha (ST2ER alpha) or ER beta (ST2ER beta). Treatment with bone morphogenetic protein-2 increased alkaline phosphatase activity as well as the number of Oil Red O-positive adipocytes, indicating that bone morphogenetic protein-2 stimulated both osteoblastic and adipocytic differentiation from these bipotential cells. In both ST2ER alpha and ST2ER beta cells, cotreatment with E2 caused enhancement of alkaline phosphatase activity and suppression of lipid accumulation. These effects were completely reversed by an ER antagonist, ICI182780. Therefore, the estrogen regulation occurred in an ER-specific manner but without ER subtype specificity. Moreover, dose response curves of the opposing effects of estrogen on osteoblastogenesis and adipogenesis formed an apparent mirror image, consistent with a reciprocal regulation of differentiation into the two cell lineages. These results demonstrate that estrogen directly modulates differentiation of bipotential stromal cells into the osteoblast and adipocyte lineages, causing a lineage shift toward the osteoblast. Such effects would lead to direct stimulation of bone formation and thereby contribute to the protective effects of estrogen on bone.