doi:10.1369/jhc.6A6969.2006
Volume 54 (12): 1315-1325, 2006 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Interstitial and Vascular Type V Collagen Morphologic Disorganization in Usual Interstitial Pneumonia
Department of Pathology (ERP,VLC) and Discipline of Rheumatology (WRT,APPV,CCO,NHY), University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil Correspondence to: Vera Luiza Capelozzi, MD, PhD, Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo 455, 01246-903, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. E-mail: vcapelozzi{at}lim05.fm.usp.br
Recent evidence suggests that type V collagen plays a role in organizing collagen fibrils, thus maintaining fibril size and spatial organization uniform. In this study we sought to characterize the importance of type V collagen morphological disorganization and to study the relationship between type V collagen, active remodeling of the pulmonary vascular/parenchyma (fibroblastic foci), and other collagen types in usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). We examined type V collagen and several other collagens in 24 open lung biopsies with histological pattern of UIP from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We used immunofluorescence, morphometry, and three-dimensional reconstruction to evaluate the amount of collagen V and its interaction with the active remodeling progression in UIP, as well as types I and III collagen fibers. Active remodeling progression was significantly related to type V collagen density (p<0.05), showing a gradual and direct increase to minimal, moderate, and severe fibrosis degree in UIP and in the three different areas: normal, intervening, and mural-organizing fibrosis in UIP. Parenchymal changes were characterized by morphological disorganization of fibrillar collagen with diverse disarray and thickness when observed by three-dimensional reconstruction. We concluded that in the different temporal stages of UIP, vascular/parenchyma collagen type V is increased, in disarray, and is the most important predictor of survival. (J Histochem Cytochem 54:13151325, 2006)
Key Words: idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis usual interstitial pneumonia type V collagen morphometry three-dimensional reconstruction survival
USUAL INTERSTITIAL PNEUMONIA (UIP), the histological pattern of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), is characterized by an excessive and disordered deposition of matrix proteins caused by the proliferation and activation of fibroblasts. The resulting severe architectural changes of the alveolar walls cause the loss of functional alveolar capillary units, leading to respiratory insufficiency (Fukuda et al. 1995
In general, the fibrogenesis process secondary to tissue injury is characterized by a large amount of collagen deposition on the extracellular matrix (ECM) and morphologic disorganization of fibrillar collagen of different sizes and thickness (Hay 1991
Type V collagen was first isolated from human placenta by Burgeson et al. (1976)
We have recently reported a severe vascular remodeling and interstitial fibrosis in rabbit lungs after immunization with human type V collagen, very similar to that observed in lung involvement found in diffuse connective tissue diseases (Teodoro et al. 2004 We postulate that if the collagen fibrils are in disarray and combine to make larger than normal lung tissues, then the expression and spatial organization of collagen V should be abnormal. In order to characterize the importance of type V collagen in parenchyma and vessels and to explore the quantitative relationship between this factor and active remodeling (fibroblastic foci) degree as well as the relationship between three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of type V collagen and other collagen types, we studied this collagen in UIP.
Patient Selection Pulmonary specimens were obtained from 24 patients with IPF, according to the criteria outlined in the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS) International Multidisciplinary Consensus Classification of the Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonias (American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society 2002 We excluded specimens of any other possible etiology (e.g., pneumoconiosis) and/or with histological features suggestive of an alternative diagnosis (e.g., eosinophilic pneumonia). We also excluded biopsy specimens obtained from patients with a concomitant systemic disease (e.g., collagen vascular disease), extensive honeycomb changes (end-stage lung disease), a dual histological pattern (two different patterns at two different biopsy sites), and/or morphological features not consistent with a specific histological pattern (e.g., bronchocentric distribution in an otherwise classical case of UIP). After excluding specimens with histological and clinical evidence of diffuse alveolar damage, nonspecific interstitial pneumonia, desquamative interstitial pneumonia, lymphoid interstitial pneumonia, or respiratory bronchiolitis,all included patients exhibited clinical, radiological, and physiological alterations consistent with IPF and were given the definitive pathological diagnosis of UIP. In other words, the apparently clear-cut diagnosis of our patients with UIP was obtained by clinical, radiological, and histological consensus criteria.
Baseline Characterization
Physiological Testing Pulmonary function tests included FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio x 100, total lung capacity (TLC), residual volume (RV), and carbon monoxide transfer factor (DLCO). TLC, RV, and RV/TLC percentages were measured by the helium dilution method with a Master Screen apparatus (Erich Jaeger GmbH; Wuerzburg, Germany), DLCO and DLCO/VA by the single breath-holding helium dilution method (Quanjer et al. 1993
High-resolution Computerized Tomography (HRCT)
Clinical Scoring
Pathological Review of the Specimens Non-UIP lungs were used as controls and were obtained from five individuals who had died due to violent causes (three men and two women; mean age 60 ± 3.6 years). Tissue specimens were obtained from areas of non-pneumonia and non-emphysematous lung.
Parenchymal Remodeling
Collagen Characterization Immunofluorescence was used for the characterization of types I, III, and V collagens in 3-µm paraffin-embedded sections mounted on a methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (Sigma; St Louis, MO) slide. Sections were dewaxed with xylene and dehydrated in graded ethanol. Antigen retrieval was performed through the enzymatic treatment of lungs with bovine pepsin (10,000 units of solid tissue; Sigma) in 4 mg/ml acetic acid buffer, pH 2.2, for 30 min at 37C, with a subsequent incubation with 5% milk in phosphate buffer, pH 7.0. Next, slides were incubated overnight with mouse polyclonal anti-human type I (1:100) and type V (1:2000) antibodies and monoclonal anti-human type III collagen antibody (1:100) (Miller and Rhodes 1982
Formalin-fixed paraffin sections of normal human lung were used as positive controls and were stained simultaneously. For negative and autofluorescence control, sections were incubated with fetal bovine serum instead of the primary antibody (Schroeder et al. 1953
For the 3D reconstruction, double staining with fluorescein and rhodamine (rhodamine-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG-R) (dilution 1:40; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA) was used for the characterization of the interaction of type I and type III collagens and type V and type I collagens in 20-µm paraffin sections. This was done according to a previously described method (Blumer et al. 2003
Type V Collagen Quantitation
Collagen 3D Reconstruction
Statistical Analysis
Collagen Characterization in Non-UIP and UIP Lungs Under hematoxylineosin (H&E) stain, non-UIP lungs showed preserved architecture and thin alveolar septa (Figure 2A ). In contrast, UIP lung histological pattern was characterized by normal areas (Figure 3A ), intervening areas (alveolar collapse) (Figure 3B), and dense fibrosis areas with "honeycomb" and mural-organizing fibrosis with fibroblastic foci (Figure 3C).
Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the collagenous fibers in alveolar walls of the non-UIP and UIP lungs stained with fluorescein and observed under fluorescent microscope (Figures 2B2D and Figures 3D3L). In tissue sections, non-UIP lungs (Figures 2B2D) and normal areas in UIP (Figures 3B, 3G, and 3J) showed strong green birefringence of type I and type III collagens in alveolar wall and type V collagen in the basement membrane of alveolar capillaries, coincident with the maintenance of the architecture in both. In contrast, the intervening areas (Figures 3E, 3H, 3K) showed architectural distortion and a diffuse increase of types I, III, and V collagen birefringence. In the severe fibrosis areas (Figures 3F, 3I, and 3L) an interaction among types I, III, and V collagens coincided with increased birefringence expression, especially in active fibrogenesis areas (fibroblastic foci). Fibroblastic foci (Figure 4A ) showed the thick reticular green birefringence of type I (Figure 4D) contrasting with the thin reticular of type III (Figure 4G) and punctuate pattern of type V collagen (Figure 4J). Equally important alterations of these collagen system fibers were observed in the terminal bronchiole (Figures 4E, 4H, and 4K) and pre-acinar artery (Figures 4F, 4I, and 4L) in severe fibrosis areas. Both types I and III collagens were located in large amounts in the adventitia of terminal bronchioles (Figures 4E and 4H) and to a lesser degree in the medial and adventitial layers of pre-acinar arteries (Figures 4F and 4I). Increased type I and type III collagen expression also coincided with increased expression of type V collagen in the basement membrane of the terminal bronchiole (Figure 4K) and pre-acinar arteries (Figure 4L). This correlated with the alveolar thickening associated with fibrocellular proliferation and the consequent distortion of the bronchioles and their pre-acinar arteries by the remodeling seen with H&E preparations (Figures 4B and 4C).
Type V Collagen Density in Parenchyma Remodeling Table 2 and Figure 5A show the progressive, gradual, and significant (p<0.05) increase of type V collagen density, directly related to minimal, moderate, and severe activity fibrosis degrees present in UIP. In this regard, high values of type V collagen coincided with severe activity fibrosis histological pattern (0.22 ± 0.02), moderate activity fibrosis with an intermediate value of type V collagen (0.16 ± 0.01), and minimal activity fibrosis with a minimal value of type V collagen (0.14 ± 0.05).
Measurements of type V collagen in the three different areas in UIP are shown in Table 3 and Figure 5B. Morphological changes of the type V collagen fibers in UIP showed significant differences in normal, intervening, and dense fibrosis areas when compared to non-UIP lungs (p<0.05). In decreasing order, mural-organizing fibroses (0.20 ± 0.03) were those with greater amounts of type V collagen fibers, followed by those with intervening (0.17 ± 0.03) and normal (0.13 ± 0.04) areas and non-UIP lungs (0.10 ± 0.01).
Type V Collagen Density in Vascular Remodeling Measurements of type V collagen in vessels of UIP are shown in Table 2 and Figure 5C. Morphological changes of type V collagen fibers in vessels showed significant differences in minimal, moderate, and severe activity fibrosis degrees present in UIP when compared to non-UIP lungs (p<0.05). In decreasing order, those showing severe activity fibrosis (0.33 ± 0.07) were those with greater amounts of type V collagen fibers, followed by those with moderate activity fibrosis (0.16 ± 0.04), minimal activity fibrosis (0.09 ± 0.02), and non-UIP lungs (0.04 ± 0.02). During follow-up of the 24 patients, 15 died and the clinical diagnoses were UIP. Survival curves comparing clinical, functional, and morphological parameters in UIP were analyzed. The most important predictor of survival in UIP was type V collagen density grade in the different histological patterns (log rank 437.45, p=0.005, Figure 5D).
Type V Collagen 3D Reconstruction
In this study we evaluated the importance of interstitial and vascular type V collagen and explored the quantitative relationship between this factor, active remodeling (fibroblastic foci) degree, and survival as well as the relationship between spatial organization of type V and other collagen types and survival in patients with IPF. We demonstrated that, at the different temporal stages of UIP, collagen fibrils are increased, in disarray, and combined to make larger than non-UIP lungs, creating an abnormal spatial organization and expression of collagen V. Parenchymal overexpression of type V collagen density was the most important predictor of survival in UIP.
Collagen is a major constituent of ECM and perhaps the most important molecule in the stabilization of tissue structure, growth, and repair (Birk and Linsenmayer 1994
Previous immunofluorescent studies of collagen polymorphism in fibrotic lung have suggested that the deposition of collagen III is a phenomenon observed in the early stages of fibrosis, whereas type I collagen is the predominant collagen deposited at later stages (Shahzeidi 1994; Kenyon et al. 2003
Active pulmonary remodeling in UIP is mainly dependent on mural-organizing fibrosis (fibroblastic foci), histologically defined as the fibroblastic proliferation immersed in an edematous ECM with deposit of collagen fibers (Fulmer et al. 1980
We have also found an association between collagen type I and type V that led to heterotypic fibrils with controlled diameters, which are important in influencing the functional characteristic of a given tissue (Van der Rest et al. 1990 These results suggest that a failure in the regulation of collagen V and morphological disorganization of the fibrils with different sizes and thickness could potentially play a significant contributory role in the complex mechanisms of disordered matrix protein deposition leading to lung fibrosis. To confirm this possibility derived from the observations described here, animal studies to quantitatively assess the chronological sequence and regulation of collagen V expression in lung fibrosis under controlled conditions will be needed.
This study was supported by the following Brazilian agencies: the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq); the Foundation for the Support of Research of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP 2001/14566-9); and the Laboratories for Medical Research (LIM 17), Clinicas Hospital, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo.
Received for publication March 14, 2006; accepted August 1, 2006
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