Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Biomark Res. 2013 May 15;1(1):19. doi: 10.1186/2050-7771-1-19.
Accumulated data from previous studies appear to suggest a link between the overexpression of a 35 kDa fragment of serum inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor H4 (ITIH4) with cancers that are associated with up-regulated levels of oestrogens. The truncated fragment was postulated to be a product of oestrogen-induced action of kallikrein on native ITIH4. The present lectin-based proteomic analyses were performed to assess the specificity of the 35 kDa fragment of ITIH4 as a potential cancer biomarker and determine whether it was also overexpressed in the sera of cancer-negative pregnant women who are known to have high levels of plasma oestrogens.
Our results demonstrated that the 35 kDa fragment of ITIH4 was overexpressed in healthy pregnant women and patients with hydatidiform mole, relative to the controls. The serum oestradiol levels of both groups of pregnant subjects were also confirmed to be higher than those of the control women who were not pregnant.
Overexpression of the 35 kDa fragment of ITIH4 was not restrictive to patients with cancers but also occurred in women who were pregnant and those diagnosed with hydatidiform mole. Our data implicate the limitation of the 35 kDa ITIH4 fragment as a cancer biomarker and its correlation with serum oestrogen levels.
先前的研究数据似乎表明，血清中α-胰蛋白酶抑制剂重链家族 H4（ITIH4）的 35kDa 片段的过度表达与与雌激素水平上调相关的癌症之间存在关联。该截断片段被推测是激肽原对天然 ITIH4 的雌激素诱导作用的产物。本基于凝集素的蛋白质组学分析旨在评估 ITIH4 的 35kDa 片段作为潜在癌症生物标志物的特异性，并确定其是否在已知具有高血浆雌激素水平的癌症阴性孕妇的血清中也过表达。
我们的结果表明，与对照组相比，ITIH4 的 35kDa 片段在健康孕妇和葡萄胎患者中过度表达。两组孕妇的血清雌二醇水平也被证实高于未怀孕的对照组女性。
ITIH4 的 35kDa 片段的过度表达不仅限于癌症患者，也发生在怀孕和诊断为葡萄胎的女性中。我们的数据表明，35kDa ITIH4 片段作为癌症生物标志物的局限性及其与血清雌激素水平的相关性。
