Manganese superoxide dismutase content and localization in human thyroid tumours.

Manganese-containing superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) content and its immunohistochemical localization in human thyroid tumours and some other thyroid diseases were examined and compared with adjacent normal thyroid tissue. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used in this study for the measurement of Mn-SOD. The content of Mn-SOD tended to increase in diffuse hyperplasia, adenomatous goitre, and follicular adenoma. In papillary carcinoma, it was significantly higher than in adjacent normal thyroid tissue. Follicular carcinoma also revealed a markedly high Mn-SOD content. In the immunohistochemical study, adjacent normal thyroid tissue showed granular positive staining of Mn-SOD in the cytoplasm. An increase of Mn-SOD was observed in the papillary proliferative lesion of diffuse hyperplasia and in the follicles adjacent to lymphoid tissue in chronic thyroiditis with hypothyroidism. Strong positive staining of Mn-SOD was observed in papillary and follicular carcinomas, whereas in anaplastic carcinoma staining was markedly less intense. These results indicate that the Mn-SOD content varies according to the degree of differentiation of thyroid carcinomas.