Biochemistry Department, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Hum Exp Toxicol. 2012 Apr;31(4):311-21. doi: 10.1177/0960327111431091. Epub 2012 Jan 16.
It is well established that hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) develops in a multistep process, from chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis to HCC. Adipose tissue is not simply an energy storage organ but also a secretory organ, producing a variety of bioactive molecules known as adipokines, including adiponectin and leptin. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an extracellular matrix protein, often associated with a variety of human cancers. Our retrospective study determines serum levels of adiponectin, leptin, and HA in HCC of cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients and compares these levels to patients with cirrhosis and normal subjects. Noncirrhotic HCC (n = 19), cirrhotic HCC (n = 50), cirrhosis (n = 36) patients and twenty one age-, sex-, and body mass index (BMI)-matched normal healthy controls were subjected in the present study. Serum adiponectin, leptin, and HA levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. Levels of serum adiponectin were significantly higher in the cirrhosis and cirrhotic HCC groups than in the normal subjects, whereas serum HA levels were found to significantly increase in all three patients groups. The elevation of serum leptin in our HCC patients, regardless of being cirrhotic or noncirrhotic, but not in the patients with cirrhosis, may shed some light on the significance of serum leptin level in HCC. Further studies are recommended to evaluate the prognostic value of serum leptin level in HCC.
众所周知，肝细胞癌（HCC）是在慢性肝炎、肝硬化到 HCC 的多步骤过程中发展的。脂肪组织不仅是一种储能器官，还是一种分泌器官，可产生多种生物活性分子，称为脂肪因子，包括脂联素和瘦素。透明质酸（HA）是细胞外基质蛋白，常与多种人类癌症相关。我们的回顾性研究确定了肝硬化和非肝硬化 HCC 患者以及肝硬化和正常对照患者血清中脂联素、瘦素和 HA 的水平，并将这些水平进行了比较。本研究纳入了 19 例非肝硬化 HCC、50 例肝硬化 HCC、36 例肝硬化患者和 21 例年龄、性别和体重指数（BMI）匹配的正常健康对照者。采用酶联免疫吸附试验技术测定血清脂联素、瘦素和 HA 水平。肝硬化和肝硬化 HCC 组的血清脂联素水平明显高于正常对照组，而血清 HA 水平在所有三组患者中均显著升高。我们的 HCC 患者（无论是否肝硬化）血清瘦素升高，但肝硬化患者的血清瘦素没有升高，这可能提示血清瘦素水平在 HCC 中的意义。建议进一步研究以评估血清瘦素水平在 HCC 中的预后价值。
