Quantity of area and form factor of AgNOR in gastric carcinoma and its precancerous: Correlations with DNA content

Abstract Silver-binding nucleolar organiser region(AgNOR) was studied by computer image anslysis system in 60 gastric biopsy and gastroectomy spcimens. These included normal 10, intestinal metaplasia 10, dysplasia 30 and cancer 10. The parameters are: the area per nucleus and the form factor of AgNOR. the DNA content was also studied by the same method. The results show that the AgNOR area per nucleus and the DNA content level increased steadily from normal gastric mucosa to intestinal metaplasia, mild dysplasia, moderate dysplasia, severe dysplasia and cancer, the highest score of the two parameters was found in gastric cancer and the lowest in normal gastric mucosa. The form factor of AgNOR nodes gradully decreased in the same route as the two parameters the largest form factor was in normal mucosa and intestinal metaplasia;the smallest was in the cancer group.A linear relationship was found between DNA content and each of the two AgNOR parameters. The measurement of silverstained NOR proteins can thus be used as a simple estmate of cell proliferative activity.