Over-expression of VEGF and MMP-9 in Residual Tumor Cells of Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Embolization with Lipidol

• Published in: Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Medical sciences Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 90 - 95
• Main Author: 石玉龙 徐涛 李乐平 陈孝平
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Huazhong University of Science and Technology 01.02.2013; Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250021, China%Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030,China
• Subjects: Animals; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - metabolism; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - therapy; Cell Line, Tumor; Embolization, Therapeutic - methods; Ethiodized Oil - therapeutic use; Hemostatics - therapeutic use; Liver Neoplasms - metabolism; Liver Neoplasms - therapy; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 - metabolism; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; MMP-9; Neoplasm, Residual - metabolism; Rabbits; Treatment Outcome; Up-Regulation - drug effects; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - metabolism; VEGF; 栓塞; 碘油; 肝癌; 肿瘤细胞; 血管内皮生长因子; 过度表达; embolization; residual hepatic tumor cells; matrix metalloproteinase-9; metastasis; vascular endothelial growth factor
• ISSN: 1672-0733; 1993-1352
• DOI: 10.1007/s11596-013-1077-z

The expression and implication of vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） and matrix metalloproteinase-9 （MMP-9） in residual hepatic tumor cells after lipiodol embolization were investi- gated. Two weeks after transplantation of VX2 tumor cells into the livers of rabbits, a xenograft model of the human hepatic neoplasm was successfully established. Forty rabbits were randomly divided into control group （n=20） and lipiodol group （n=20）. For the control group, 1 mL normal saline was injected through the gastroduodenal artery, whereas 0.3 mL/kg lipiodol was applied for the lipiodol group. One week after embolization, the expression level of VEGF in the plasma was measured by using en- zyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. A three-step immunohistochemieal technique （ABC） was employed to detect the protein levels of VEGF and MMP-9 and the quantitative PCR for their mRNA levels was performed in the residual tumor cells. The VEGF in the plasma was significantly higher in the lipiodol group （1.42~0.29 ng/mL） than in the control group （1.12~0.21 ng/mL） （P〈0.01）. Moreover, the positive rate of VEGF protein in the residual tumor cells was significantly higher in the lipiodol group （62.13%~7.69%） than in the control group （53.16%~9.17%） （P〈0.05）. Similarly, the MMP-9 ex- pression in the residual ~mor cells was higher in the lipiodol group. The mRNA levels of VEGF （2.9313~2.4231） and MMP-9 （3.5721~1.6107） in the lipiodol group were significantly higher than those in the control group （1.5728~0.9453 and 1.7573~1.0641, respectively, P〈0.05）. Therefore, it was rea- sonable to speculate that the increased expression of VEGF and MMP-9 in residual hepatic tumor cells and tumor angiogenesis post-embolization would be responsible for the increased metastatic potentiality and invasiveness of these cells.