Kao Jung-Ta, Feng Chun-Lung, Yu Cheng-Ju, Tsai Shu-Mei, Hsu Ping-Ning, Chen Yao-Li, Wu Yi-Ying
School of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
BMC Gastroenterol. 2015 Apr 25;15:50. doi: 10.1186/s12876-015-0283-5.
Biologic activities of functional mediators activate downstream transducers regulating inflammation and carcinogenesis. Correlation among mediators (IL-6, IL-27, TNF-α, and VEGF) with STAT proteins at diverse clinical-pathologic stages of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains limited.
Serum mediators assayed from 147 untreated HCC cases (HCC-total group) included 70 HBV-infected (HCC-HBV group), 64 HCV-infected (HCC-HCV group), and 13 without HBV-/HCV-infection (HCC-NBNC group). Another 156 non-HCC individuals comprised 54 healthy individuals (HG) and 102 chronic hepatitis patients (CH-total group) as control group. To correlate with serum mediators, 86-paired liver tissues (CH: 52 and HCC: 34 cases) served for p-STATs proteins immunostain.
Although four mediators (IL-6, IL-27, TNF-α, and VEGF) significantly over-expressed, IL-6 presented the strongest correlation in HCC-total versus CH-total or HG groups (HCC-total versus CH-total: P < 0.001; HCC-total versus HG: P < 0.001). Over-expressed IL-6 concentration linked with poor liver function (Albumin: r = -0.383, P < 0.001; Bilirubin: r = 0.280, P = 0.001; INR: r = 0.299, P < 0.001; AST: 0.212, P = 0.016), tumor progression (TNM system: r = 0.370; P < 0.001), clinical condition severity (BCLC system: r = 0.471; P < 0.001; terminal- versus early-stage HCC, P = 0.001; advanced- versus early-stage HCC, P = 0.007; terminal- versus intermediate- stage HCC P = 0.003; advanced- versus intermediate-stage HCC P = 0.019), and 6-month mortality (P = 0.024). Likewise, serum IL-6 (r = 0.501, P = 0.003) as compared to IL-27 (r = 0.052, P = 0.770), TNF-α (r = 0.019, P = 0.917), and VEGF (r = 0.096, P = 0.595) expression reflected positive correlation with activation of tissues p-STAT3 rather than p-STAT1.
Serum IL-6, through p-STAT3 rather than p-STAT1 signal pathway, affected hepatic function, tumor progression, and determine HCC patient survival.
功能性介质的生物活性激活调节炎症和致癌作用的下游转导子。在肝细胞癌(HCC)不同临床病理阶段,介质(IL-6、IL-27、TNF-α和VEGF)与信号转导和转录激活因子(STAT)蛋白之间的相关性仍然有限。
检测147例未经治疗的HCC病例(HCC总组)的血清介质,其中包括70例HBV感染患者(HCC-HBV组)、64例HCV感染患者(HCC-HCV组)和13例无HBV/HCV感染患者(HCC-NBNC组)。另156例非HCC个体组成对照组,包括54例健康个体(HG)和102例慢性肝炎患者(CH总组)。为了与血清介质进行相关性分析,86对肝组织(CH组:52例;HCC组:34例)用于p-STATs蛋白免疫染色。
虽然四种介质(IL-6、IL-27、TNF-α和VEGF)均显著过表达,但IL-6在HCC总组与CH总组或HG组之间呈现出最强的相关性(HCC总组与CH总组:P<0.001;HCC总组与HG组:P<0.001)。过表达的IL-6浓度与肝功能不良相关(白蛋白:r=-0.383,P<0.001;胆红素:r=0.280,P=0.001;国际标准化比值:r=0.299,P<0.001;谷草转氨酶:0.212,P=0.016)、肿瘤进展(TNM分期系统:r=0.370;P<0.001)、临床病情严重程度(巴塞罗那临床肝癌分期系统:r=0.471;P<0.001;晚期与早期HCC,P=0.001;进展期与早期HCC,P=0.007;晚期与中期HCC,P=0.003;进展期与中期HCC,P=0.019)以及6个月死亡率(P=0.024)。同样,与IL-27(r=0.052,P=0.770)、TNF-α(r=0.019,P=0.917)和VEGF(r=0.096,P=0.595)表达相比,血清IL-6(r=0.501,P=0.003)与组织p-STAT3而非p-STAT1的激活呈正相关。
血清IL-6通过p-STAT3而非p-STAT1信号通路,影响肝功能、肿瘤进展,并决定HCC患者的生存。