Expression of CXCL12 in esophageal high grade dysplasia characterized pathologically by lymphocyte accumulation directly under the lesion

Squamous dysplasia of the esophagus is an unequivocal neoplastic alteration of the esophageal squamous epithelium without invasion. Esophageal high grade dysplasia (EHGD) is characterized by >50% epithelial involvement or severe cytological atypia. Frequently, lymphocytes accumulate below EHGD lesions even though there is no invasion. If this lymphocytic accumulation is active, a transmitter should exist between the EHGD cells and the lymphocytes. C -X-C motif chemokine ligand (CXCL) 12, CXCL10 and C-C motif chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18) are all lymphocyte chemoattractants in vivo, but there are no reports on the relationship between these chemokines and EHGDs. In this study, we investigated these chemokines and C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) (receptor for CXCL12) in 30 EHGDs using immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). For comparison, we enrolled 30 samples of normal esophageal squamous epithelium (NESE). We confirmed CXCL12 expression (H-score >= 50 points) in 70% of EHGD and 0% of NESE samples, CXCL10 expression in 3% of EHGD and 3% of NESE samples, CCL18 expression in 3% of EHGD and 0% of NESE samples, and CXCR4 expression in 53% of EHGD and 0% of NESE samples by immunohistochemistry. EHGD and NESE cases were significantly different in their expressions between the tissue types (CXCL12, p<0.001; CXCR4, p<0.001). We examined CXCL12 and CXCR4 mRNA expressions of 3 representative EHGD samples, each having their respective immunostained areas detected by RT-PCR. Finding CXCL12 expression may indicate that this chemokine plays a part in the lymphocyte accumulation that occurs directly under EHGDs.