Abstract: Objective By observing the changes of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) protein expression in human brain glioma tissue to determine its correlation with tumor pathological grade and clinical significance. Methods The distribution and changes of VCAM-1 protein expression in 6 normal brain and 30 brain glioma tissue were detected by using immunohistochemistry staining and Western blot analysis. Results The results of immunohistochemistry staining showed that the percentage of VCAM-1 positive cell number in normal brain tissue, grade II, III and IV brain glioma tissue were 5.8%, 26.5%, 69.5% and 79.3%, respectively. The VCAM-1 positive cells mainly distributed along the tumor capillaries in high pathological grade glioma. The number of VCAM-1 positive cells in glioma tissue was significantly higher than that of normal brain tissue (p<0.05). The higher number of VCAM-1 positive cells in grade III and IV glioma tissue was observed when compared with that of grade II glioma tissue(p<0.05), but no significant difference was found between grade III and grade IV glioma tissue (p=0.068). Similarly, the Western blot analysis alse indicated that there were more VCAM-1 protein expressions in brain glioma tissue with the increase of the tumor grade level when compared with the less VCAM-1 expressed in normal brain tissue (p<0.05). In addition ,the VCAM-1 protein expressions in high pathological grade III and IV glioma tissue extensively increased compared with glioma II glioma tissue (p<0.05), but no significant difference in VCAM-1 protein expressions was observed between grade III and IV glioma tissue. Conclusion The significant increase of VCAM-1 protein expressions in brain glioma tissue positively correlated with the tumor pathological grades, suggesting an important role of VCAM-1 in the malignant progress of human brain glioma.

Key words: vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1), protein expression and distribution, brain glioma, tumor pathological grade, clinical significance