Frequent loss of heterozygosity in two distinct regions,8p23.1 and 8p22, in hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM： To identify the precise location of putative tumor suppressor genes （TSGs） on the short arm of chromosome 8 in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）. METHODS： We used 16 microsatellite markers informative in Japanese patients, which were selected from 61 pub- lished markers, on 81：）, to analyze the frequency of loss of heterozygosity （LOH） in each region in 33 cases （56 lesions） of HCC. RESULTS： The frequency of LOH at 8p23.2-21 with at least one marker was 63% （20/32） in the informative cases. More specifically, the frequency of LOH at 8p23.2, 8p23.1, 8p22, and 8p21 was 6%, 52%, 47%, and 13% in HCC cases. The LOH was significantly more frequent at 8p23.1 and 8p22 than the average （52% vs 220, P = 0.0008; and 47% vs 22%, P = 0.004, respectively） or others sites, such as 8p23.2 （52% vs 60, P = 0.003; 47% vs 220, P = 0.004） and 8p21 （52% vs 13%, P = 0.001; 47% vs 13%, P = 0.005） in liver cancer on the basis of cases. Notably, LOH frequency was significantly higher at D85277, DSS503, DSS1130, DSS552, DSS254 and D8S258 than at the other sites. However, no allelic loss was detected at any marker on 8p in the lesions of nontumor liver tissues. CONCLUSION： Deletion of 8p, especially the loss of 8p23.1-22, is an important event in the initiation or promotion of HCC. Our results should be useful in identi- fying critical genes that might lie at 8p23.1-22.

Useful detection of CD147 (EMMPRIN) for pathological diagnosis of early hepatocellular carcinoma in needle biopsy samples

AIM:To make clear whether CD147 (EMMPRIN) expression in pathological tumor samples with a fine-needle aspiration biopsy is useful for pathological diagnosis of early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS:Twenty-two patients (15 men and 7 women; median age 68 years,range 56-81 years) underwent a liver tissue biopsy in order to make a diagnosis of HCC. Paraffin-embedded liver biopsy tissue samples from 22 patients were stained with anti-CD147 antibody,murine monoclonal antibody 12C3 (MAb12C3) for immunohistochemical analysis. An immunohistochemical analysis of CD147 was performed and the degree of staining compared between tumor and non-tumor tissue. In addition,the degree of staining within tumor tissue was compared according to a number of clinicopathological variables. RESULTS:The degree of staining of CD147 was significantly higher in tumor tissues than non-tumor tissues,even in tumors less than 15 mm in diameter.The expression of this protein was significantly elevated in HCC tissue specimens from patients with a low value of serum AST and γ-GTP.

Several factors including ITPA polymorphism influence ribavirin-induced anemia in chronic hepatitis C

AIM： To construct formulae for predicting the likelihood of ribavirin-induced anemia in pegylated interferon plus ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C. METHODS： Five hundred and sixty-one Japanese patients with hepatitis C virus genotype lb who had received combination treatment were enrolled and as- signed randomly to the derivation and confirmatory groups. Single nucleotide polymorphisms at or nearby ITPA were genotyped by real-time detection poly- merase chain reaction. Factors influencing significant anemia （hemoglobin concentration 〈 10.0 g/dL at week 4 of treatment） and significant hemoglobin decline （declining concentrations 〉 3.0 g/dL at week 4） were analyzed using multiple regression analyses. Prediction formulae were constructed by significantly independent factors. RESULTS： Multivariate analysis for the derivation group identified four independent factors associated with significant hemoglobin decline： hemoglobin decline at week 2 [P = 3.29× 10^4, odds ratio （OR） = 7.54 （g/dL）], estimated glomerular filtration rate [P = 2.16× 10^4, OR = 0.962 （ml/min/1.73 m2）], rs1127354 （P = 5.75 × 10^4, OR = 10.94） and baseline hemoglobin [P = 7.86 × 10^4, OR = 1.50 （g/alL）]. Using the model constructed by these factors, positive and negative predictive values and predictive accuracy were 79.8%, 88.8% and 86.2%, respectively. For the confirmatory group, they were 83.3%, 91.0% and 88.3%. These factors were closely correlated with significant anemia. However, the model could not be constructed, because no patients with rs1127354 minor genotype CA/AA had significant anemia. CONCLUSION： Reliable formulae for predicting the likelihood of ribavirin-induced anemia were constructed. Such modeling may be useful in developing individual tailoring and optimization of ribavirin dosage.

An autopsy case showing massive fibrinoid necrosis of the portal tracts of the liver with cholangiographic findings similar to those of primary sclerosing cholangitis

An 81-year-old Japanese man with jaundice was strongly suspected clinically of having primary sclerosing cholangitis based on clinical examinations and later died of hepatic failure. The entire course of the disease lasted about 10 mo. The autopsy revealed extensive fibrinoid necrosis in the liver, kidney, spleen, pancreas, lung, lymph nodes, and pleura. Particularly extensive fibrinoid necrosis in the portal tracts of the liver induced severe stenoses of the intrahepatic bile ducts, resulting in cholestasis in association with prominent liver injury. There were no findings indicating primary sclerosing cholangitis. The hepatic lesions in this case did not coincide with any known disease including collagen diseases. To clarify the cause of irregular stenoses of the intrahepatic biliary trees on cholangiographic findings, we postulate that some form of immunological derangement might be involved in pathogenesis of fibrinoid necrosis. However, the true etiology remains unknown.