Abnormal expression of secretory component in term newborns with bowel perforation--a report of two cases.

Expression of secretory component (SC) in intestinal resection specimens from two term newborns with bowel perforation due to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) or and NEC-like syndrome was determined and compared with the SC immunoreactivity in a panel of intestinal tissues from fetuses at different ages of gestation. Expression of SC was absent in one patient, whereas in the other patient, SC immunoreactivity was observed in the basal cell part of colonic epithelium only. SC was normally expressed in a follow-up biopsy on one of these patients. In contrast, SC was present in the apical plasma membrane and brush border of colonic epithelium from 32 weeks of gestation onwards in fetuses without demonstrable intestinal disease. From these findings we conclude that the expression of SC was impaired in our patients, thus possibly playing a role in the development of the bowel perforation in these full-term newborns with an NEC-like syndrome or resulting from its pathogenesis.