Department of Urology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.
Department of Urology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, China.
Aging (Albany NY). 2022 Feb 24;14(4):1879-1890. doi: 10.18632/aging.203909.
The aim of this study was to explore the expression of Galectin-9 in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), evaluate its clinicopathological significance, and investigate whether Galecin-9 expression has prognostic value in HBV-associated HCC.
Immunohistochemistry staining was performed to examine the expression of Galectin-9 in paraffin-embedded tissues from 140 cases of HBV-associated HCC specimens. The association between Gal-9 expression, clinicopathological features and prognosis was analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method, log-rank test and Cox regression analysis. Dual immunofluorescence (IF) staining was performed to identify the cell types that have positive Gal-9 expression.
Among the 140 cases of HBV-associated HCC, 39 (27.9%) cases showed high Gal-9 expression (score≥6), 21 (15%) cases showed moderate Gal-9 expression (6>score≥3), 33 (23.6%) cases showed weak Gal-9 expression (3>score>0), and 47 (33.6%) cases had no detectable Gal-9 expression (score=0). Positive Gal-9 expression (score>0) was associated with lymph node metastasis (=0.029), Ki-67 proliferation index (=0.009) and poor prognosis. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that Gal-9 expression could be used as an independent prognostic marker for HBV-associated HCC. Dual IF staining indicated that Gal-9 was mainly expressed in CD68CD163 Kupffer cells (KCs) in HBV-associated HCC.
Gal-9 was specifically expressed in certain HBV-associated HCC. Positive Gal-9 expression was significantly associated with poor prognosis, and Gal-9 could be used as a prognostic marker in HBV-associated HCC. Specific expression of Gal-9 on KCs indicated it may have immunosuppressive function in HBV-associated HCC.
本研究旨在探讨乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）相关肝细胞癌（HCC）中半乳糖凝集素-9（Galectin-9）的表达，评估其临床病理意义，并探讨Galectin-9 表达是否对 HBV 相关 HCC 具有预后价值。
采用免疫组织化学染色法检测 140 例 HBV 相关 HCC 组织石蜡包埋标本中 Galectin-9 的表达。采用 Kaplan-Meier 法、Log-rank 检验和 Cox 回归分析分析 Gal-9 表达与临床病理特征和预后的关系。采用双重免疫荧光（IF）染色鉴定表达 Gal-9 的细胞类型。
在 140 例 HBV 相关 HCC 中，39 例（27.9%）高 Galectin-9 表达（评分≥6），21 例（15%）中度 Galectin-9 表达（6>评分≥3），33 例（23.6%）弱阳性 Galectin-9 表达（3>评分>0），47 例（33.6%）无 Galectin-9 表达（评分=0）。Galectin-9 阳性表达（评分>0）与淋巴结转移（=0.029）、Ki-67 增殖指数（=0.009）和不良预后相关。单因素和多因素分析表明，Galectin-9 表达可作为 HBV 相关 HCC 的独立预后标志物。双重 IF 染色表明，Galectin-9 在 HBV 相关 HCC 中主要表达于 CD68CD163 库普弗细胞（KCs）。
Galectin-9 在特定的 HBV 相关 HCC 中特异性表达。Galectin-9 阳性表达与不良预后显著相关，可作为 HBV 相关 HCC 的预后标志物。Galectin-9 在 KCs 上的特异性表达表明其在 HBV 相关 HCC 中可能具有免疫抑制功能。
