Abstract:Objective:To study the action of death signal receptor pathway of apoptosis in the development of gallbladder carcinoma. Methods:Streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase immunohistochemistry technique was used to study the expression of Fas L in gallbladder carcinoma tissues,and TUNEL method for in situ detection of the number of apoptotic infiltrating lymphocytes around the tumor. Results:The positive rates of Fas L in gallbladder carcinoma, gallbladder adenoma, dysplasia of gallbladder epithelium and chronic cholecystis were 84.6%(22/26), 83.3%(15/18) ,100%(3/3) and 55%(11/20), respectively. The positive rate of Fas L in gallbladder carcinoma was significantly higher than in chronic cholecystis (P<0.05). The number of apoptotic infiltrating lymphocytes in gallbladder carcinoma of Fas L(+) was significantly higher than in gallbladder carcinoma of Fas L(-)(P<0.01). The number of apoptotic infiltrating lymphocytes in poorly-differentiated gallbladder carcinoma of Fas L(+) was significantly higher than in poorly-differentiated gallbladder carcinoma of Fas L(-)( P<0.05). The number of apoptotic infiltrating lymphocytes in NevinI、II、III gallbladder carcinoma of Fas L(+) was significantly higher than in NevinI,II,III gallbladder carcinoma of Fas L(-)(P<0.01). Conclusions:The death signal receptor pathway of apoptosis plays a role in the development of gallbladder carcinoma.