The prognostic importance of fibronectin and sialic acid levels in human pituitary adenomas

In this study, fibronectin and sialic acid levels were determined inhuman pituitary adenomas. The mean fibronectin and sialic acid levels for human pituitary adenomas were found to be 31.64 +/- 15.82 mu g/mg protein and 21.90 +/- 9.82 mu g/mg protein, respectively, versus 6.30 +/- 2.96 mu g/mg protein and 9.88 +/- 2.81 mu g/mg protein for the normal brain tissues. Fibronectin and sialic acid levels were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in human pituitary adenomas than the normal brain tissues. In human infiltrative and non-infiltrative pituitary adenomas, the mean fibronectin and sialic acid levels were found to be 40.87 +/- 15.90 mu g/mg protein, 27.59 +/- 11.10 mu g/mg protein and 22.40 +/- 9.51 mu g/mg protein, 16.21 +/- 3.20 mu g/mg protein, respectively. Fibronectin and sialic acid levels were slightly elevated (P < 0.05) in human infiltrative pituitary adenomas compared with non-infiltrative adenomas.