Cell Kinetics, Morphology, and Molecular IgV_H Gene Rearrangements in Hodgkin's Disease

Abstract

The present study dealt with the question of whether any cellular kinetic patterns correlate with clonal rearrangement of the IgV_H gene as revealed by polymerase chain reaction on DNA extracted from lymph nodes with classical Hodgkin's disease (HD) and/or from single CD30⁺ cells (Hodgkin [H] and Reed-Sternberg [RS] cells). In 15/4 cases with H-RS cells of B or Null phenotype, signs of such monoclonality could be detected (group I) but not in the others (group II). CD30⁺/H-RS cells in group I differed slightly but significantly from those in group II in that they a) exhibited a larger fraction of cells attaining the anaphase/telophase stage of mitosis, and b) produced relatively more mononucleated cells (H) at the expense of multinucleated (RS) cells. In addition, reactive lymphoid cell (CD30⁻) infiltrates were considerably less dense in group I that in group II. These findings suggest that the cytokinesis of H-RS cells in group I was moderately more efficient than in group II. However, signs of monoclonality were not associated with the normalization of the mitotic process, which also proved to be disturbed in group I.

Key Words:

• Hodgkin's disease
• cell kinetics
• cell proliferation
• molecular biology
• IgV_H genes
• monoclonality