EVALUATION OF CELLULAR PROLIFERATION IN HUMAN BIOPSY SAMPLES OF LYMPHOID-TISSUE ACCORDING TO THE EXPRESSION OF AGNORS

The proportions of cells with a high expression of AgNORs, as directly assessed under the light microscope, and those of Ki-67-immunoreactiv e cells were divided into three categories (low, < 25%; intermediate, 25-50%; high, > 50%) and compared to a series of 41 human biopsy sampl es of lymphoid tissue. Irrespective of histological features a strong correlation was found between both variables (contingency coefficient = 0.8; P < 0.001). It is concluded that direct evaluation of cells wit h a high expression of AgNORs may serve as an index of proliferative a ctivity in biopsy samples of lymphoid tissue.