Expression of Osteopontin in Human Brain Gliomas and Its Clinical Meanings

Objective To explore the expression of osteopontin in human gliomas and its clinical meanings. Methods The expression of osteopontin was determined by immunohistochemical stain in 10 cases of normal brain tissues and in 58 cases of gliomas. The relationship of osteopontin expression with pathological grade of gliomas and prognosis of patients with gliomas was analyzed. Results No expression of osteopontin was found in the normal brain tissues. The positive cell rates of osteopontin expression in grades Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ gliomas were 11.3%±6.2%, 21.8%±11.2%, 36.7%±18.3% and 49.4%±16.5% respectively. There was significant difference in osteopontin expression among the gliomas of different pathological grades (P0.05). Two year-survival rates in patients with high and low expressions of osteopontin was 40.6%(13/32) and 76.9%(20/26) respectively. There was significant difference in two year-survive rate beween the patients with high expression of osteopontin and patients with low exptrssion of osteopontin (P0.05). Conclusion Osteopontin may play an important role in the development of human brain gliomas. The expression of osteopontin is asso-ciated with pathological grade of gliomas and prognosis in the patients with gliomas.