Expression of transforming growth factor‐α mRNA in livers of patients with chronic viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma

• Published in: Cancer Vol. 89; no. 5; pp. 977 - 982
• Main Authors: Chung, Young‐Hwa, Kim, Jeong A., Song, Byung‐Cheol, Lee, Geun Chan, Koh, Moon Soo, Lee, Yung Sang, Lee, Seung Gyu, Suh, Dong Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.09.2000; Wiley-Liss
• Subjects: Adult; Biological and medical sciences; carcinogenesis; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - complications; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - metabolism; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - virology; Chronic Disease; chronic hepatitis; Disease Progression; Female; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis C virus; Hepatitis, Viral, Human - complications; Hepatitis, Viral, Human - metabolism; hepatocellular carcinoma; Humans; Liver; Liver - metabolism; Liver Neoplasms - complications; Liver Neoplasms - metabolism; Liver Neoplasms - virology; Liver. Biliary tract. Portal circulation. Exocrine pancreas; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; RNA, Messenger - biosynthesis; Statistics as Topic; Transforming Growth Factor alpha - biosynthesis; Transforming Growth Factor alpha - genetics; Transforming growth factor-a; transforming growth factor‐α; Tumors; Human; Cytokine; Hepatic disease; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Malignant tumor; Gene expression; Infection; Viral hepatitis B; Chronic; Messenger RNA; Polypeptide; Viral disease; Digestive diseases; Genetics; Transforming growth factor α; Growth factor
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/1097-0142(20000901)89:5<977::AID-CNCR6>3.0.CO;2-I

BACKGROUND Transforming growth factor‐α (TGFα) is an important autocrine growth factor of hepatocytes. The authors evaluated the roles of TGFα in chronic viral hepatitis (CVH) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS The authors measured the amounts of TGFα mRNA in liver tissues from 18 patients with HCC, 31 patients with CVH, and 7 normal controls. “ Hot‐start” reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) using oligo‐dT and specific primers detected TGFα mRNA in total cellular RNA extracted from liver tissues. The levels of TGFα mRNA were determined by the end point titers of serial, two‐fold dilutions of cDNA. The amounts of hepatitis B virus RNA (HBV‐RNA) in livers of patients with chronic hepatitis B also were measured by Northern blot hybridization. RESULTS TGFα mRNA levels were extremely higher in patients with HCC compared with patients with CVH and normal controls, and the levels in patients with CVH also were elevated compared with normal controls. The levels of TGFα mRNA were overexpressed in the underlying livers of patients with HCC compared with patients with CVH, although they were lower than those found in HCC tissues. The levels of TGFα mRNA were higher in samples from patients with chronic hepatitis B than in samples from patients with chronic hepatitis C. The levels of TGFα mRNA were not correlated with serum alanine aminotransferase or HBV‐RNA levels in liver tissues in patients with chronic hepatitis B. However, the expression of TGFα mRNA tended to be higher in the livers of patients with raised serum α‐fetoprotein levels. CONCLUSIONS The overexpression of TGFα mRNA in the liver seems to be associated with the regeneration of hepatocytes rather than hepatic necrosis or viral replication. Also, it may be related closely to the development or progression of HCC, especially in the livers of patients with chronic hepatitis B. Cancer 2000;89:977–82. © 2000 American Cancer Society. The overexpression of transforming growth factor‐α (TGFα) mRNA in the liver seems to be associated with the regeneration of hepatocytes rather than hepatic necrosis or viral replication. The current data suggest that the overexpression of TGFα mRNA may be correlated closely with the development, growth, or progression of hepatocellular carcinoma, especially in the livers of patients with chronic hepatitis B.