[Immunohistochemical quantitative study of glial fibrillary acid protein and vimentin of astrocytomas].

Two different types of intermediate filaments, vimentin (VIM) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were studied by immunohistochemical quantitative analysis using image analyser in 25 cases of astrocytomas, grade II to IV. The results showed that the VIM and GFAP distribution patterns were similar in all cases of astrocytomas, but the expression of VIM in poorly differentiated astrocytoma (grade III and IV) being more frequent and intense than in well differentiated astrocytomas (grade II), the expression of GFAP in well differentiated astrocytomas (grade II) is more frequent and intense than in poorly differentiated astrocytomas (grade III and IV). We suggest that there is a negative relation between the reaction of GFAP and the degree of malignancy in astrocytomas and a positive correlation between reaction of VIM and the degree of malignancy in astrocytomas.