quantitative study of gastric epithelial lesions by nucleolar organizer region staining

nucleolar organizer regions (nor) are defined as nucleolar components containing a set of argyrophilic proteins which are selectively stained by colloidal silver nitrate staining. although studies have shown that the number of nor dots or particles is directly related to the rapidity of cell proliferation in cancer cells, prognostic or diagnostic value of nor remains controversial. the aim of the present study was to asses the proliferative activity of the nor in different gastric epithelial lesions. for these purposes 60 biopsy and surgical specimens of stomach from pathology files of khatamalanbia and imam hospitals were chosen. for each patient, 3-5 paraffin sections were prepared and stained by one step colloidal silver nitrate solution. in each section intranuclear dots in 100 cell nuclei were counted by two of authors in randomly selected fields and data were analyzed by anova. statistical analysis showed significant difference for nor number between gastritis, different grades of dysplasia and carcinoma. the shape and number of nor showed a grater variability in carcinoma compared to other lesions. it seems that nor could reflect the proliferative activity of cells.