Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Mie University, 2-174 Edobashi, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan.
JST, PRESTO, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan.
Pharm Res. 2021 Jan;38(1):89-95. doi: 10.1007/s11095-021-02998-x. Epub 2021 Feb 3.
Liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) is mainly expressed in the liver as well as the proximal tubular epithelial cells in the kidney. In general, the proteins and enzymes existing within the hepatocytes have the potential to become biomarkers, for instance alanine aminotransferase, which reflects hepatocellular damage. However, due to reduced hepatocellular function in late stage of chronic liver diseases (e.g. cirrhosis), proteins and enzymes relating to hepatocellular damage are not always accurate measures of disease progression. Recently, several publications have demonstrated elevated serum L-FABP levels during the progression of human liver diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and were a prognostic factor for survival in acute and chronic liver disease patients. However, the study regarding serum L-FABP levels and hepatic L-FABP expression in liver diseases is not sufficient to understand the molecular mechanism of L-FABP during the progression of these disease states. In this review, we focus on the use of serum and/or hepatic L-FABP expression as a biomarker in human liver diseases, including mechanistic potential in HCC.
肝型脂肪酸结合蛋白（L-FABP）主要在肝脏以及肾脏的近端肾小管上皮细胞中表达。一般来说，肝细胞内存在的蛋白质和酶都有可能成为生物标志物，例如丙氨酸氨基转移酶，它反映了肝细胞损伤。然而，由于慢性肝病（如肝硬化）晚期肝细胞功能下降，与肝细胞损伤相关的蛋白质和酶并不总是疾病进展的准确指标。最近，有几项研究表明，在人类肝脏疾病（包括肝细胞癌[HCC]）的进展过程中，血清 L-FABP 水平升高，并且是急性和慢性肝病患者生存的预后因素。然而，关于血清 L-FABP 水平和肝脏 L-FABP 表达在肝脏疾病中的研究还不足以了解 L-FABP 在这些疾病状态进展过程中的分子机制。在这篇综述中，我们重点关注血清和/或肝脏 L-FABP 表达作为人类肝脏疾病的生物标志物的用途，包括在 HCC 中的潜在机制。
