2024 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Are distal airway "metaplastic cells" in feline idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis an indication of malignant transformation?
| Project/Area Number |
22K06035
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 42020:Veterinary medical science-related
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| Research Institution | Okayama University of Science |
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Principal Investigator |
Mitsui Ikki 岡山理科大学, 獣医学部, 助教 (20844773)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
藤原 信行 岡山理科大学, 獣医学部, 講師 (30805875)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2022-04-01 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | 特発性肺線維症 / 猫 / 気管支漏 / ブロンコレア / 化生 / 肺腺癌 / 粘液過剰分泌 / 致死性呼吸器疾患 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
Lung specimens from 12 client-owned cats that had developed a rare fatal disease called “bronchorrhea,” in which mucus is constantly secreted from the distal portion of the lungs to cause coughing and tachypnea, were analyzed. All of them had microscopic findings of usual interstitial pneumonia that closely resembled that of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Seven of them had concurrent development of pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Histochemistry, immunohistochemistry, and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the abnormal mucus-producing cells had mixed features of pulmonary resident cells such as Clara cell. From these results, it was inferred that preexisting respiratory epithelial cells (type I pneumocytes) underwent a transformation (metaplasia) into abnormal cells that actively secrete mucus, and some of these cells further transformed to cancer. A search for the cause and analysis of the responsible genes are the next issues to be addressed.
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| Free Research Field |
獣医病理学
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
本研究の学術的意義は、猫の肺の新興疾患「気管支漏」を病理学的に詳細に解析し、粘液を過剰に産生する「化生細胞」が本疾患の根本原因となっている事実を明らかにしたことにある。さらに、猫気管支漏の病巣に頻繁に肺腺癌がみられたことから、化生細胞が癌化して肺腺癌に至った可能性が示唆され、化生細胞を解析することが肺がん発生メカニズム解明の糸口となる可能性がある。社会的意義としては、人と同じ環境に暮らし、人なみの検査や治療が可能になりつつある伴侶動物（今回は猫）における疾患の解析結果を、人の難病やがんの診断・治療法開発にフィードバックできる可能性を示したことにある。
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