Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 in human pancreas

We have investigated the expression of COX-1, COX-2 and iNOS protein in human pancreas tissue in normal and pathological conditions. Tissue samples were obtained during surgery from patients with adenocarcinoma of pancreas from a nonnecrotic area of the tumour and control specimens from adjacent nontumorous tissue. The expression of COX-1, COX-2 and iNOS protein was evaluated by Western blot analysis. COX-2 was detected in all tumour samples. The levels of COX-2, determined by densitometry, were consistently higher in cancer tissue in comparison to paired control samples. On the contrary, the expression of COX-1 was weak in both control and cancerous specimens and the intensity of COX-1 was equivalent in all specimens. The expression of iNOS in cancer pancreas was greater than that of nontumour tissues where it was barely detectable. Overexpression of iNOS and COX-2 was demonstrated in all cancerous specimens, suggesting that both iNOS and COX-2 are involved in pancreatic cancer and can have important clinical implications. The iNOS and COX-2 may form the basis for a novel therapeutic approach such as pharmacological antagonism, or antisense gene therapy. This method could be utlized for different pathological condition of pancreas such as necrotizing or chronic pancreatitis.