The Relationship Between The Expression Of Arg-1、iNOS And Clinicopathological Features In Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Objective: To study the expression of Arg-1、iNOS in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)from mRNA and protein levels and analysis the relationship between the expressionof Arg-1、iNOS and clinicopathological features in HCC and prognosis value.Methods: The expression level of Arg-1mRNA in68samples of HCC andcorresponding adjacent liver tissue and8normal liver tissue samples wereinvestigated using Real-time polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) analysis.High-throughput tissue mictoarray technique and immunohistochemistry (IHC) wereused to detect the protein expression of Arg-1and iNOS in167samples of HCC andcorresponding adjacent liver tissue. In addition, the protein expression of Arg-1andiNOS was evaluated by Western Blot in23HCC samples and adjacent liver tissuesamples. The correlation of Arg-1and iNOS to clinicopathologic parameters of HCCand their prognosis value were also analyzed.Results:1、The average expression level of Arg-1mRNA in68HCCs was significantly lowerthan that in corresponding adjacent liver tissues and that in normal liver tissues(P<0.01)。2、The result of Western Blot also showed that the expression of Arg-1and iNOSprotein in HCCs was significantly lower than the adjacent liver tissues(P<0.01).3、Strong immunoreactivity of Arg-1and iNOS was detected in adjacent liver tissuesand normal control liver tissues. Weak or even no immunoreactivity of Arg-1andiNOS was detected in167HCCs. The protein expression levels of Arg-1andiNOS in HCCs were both significantly lower than that in the correspondingadjacent liver tissues (P<0.01). Immunoreactivity for Arg-1and iNOS wereobserved in44.9%and37.7%of167HCCs, respectively. There was positive relationship between the expression of Arg-1and iNOS protein in HCCs(r=0.214，P=0.002). With tumor differentiation decreased and grade increased, theexpression of Arg-1protein progressively lost（P<0.01）and the expression ofiNOS protein also decreased（P<0.01）. In HCCs, the expression of Arg-1proteinwas significantly associated with preoperative level of AFP、vascular invasion、recurrence（P<0.05）; the expression of iNOS protein was significantly associatedwith vascular invasion、peplos invasion（P<0.01）. The expression of Arg-1andiNOS protein was not associated with gender、age、HBV infection、the number oftumors、tumor size and liver cirrhosis（P>0.05）.4、 In HCCs, Arg-1expression may impact on recurrence-free survival time（P<0.05）,but can not impact on overall survival tim（eP>0.05）. iNOS expressionis not related with recurrence-free and overall survival time（P>0.05）.Conclusion：1、The average expression level of Arg-1mRNA in HCC was significantly lowerthan that in corresponding adjacent liver tissue and that in normal liver tissue.2、The expression of Arg-1and iNOS protein in HCC was significantly lower thanthat in corresponding adjacent liver tissue. There was positive relationshipbetween the expression of Arg-1and iNOS protein. The loss or decrease of Arg-1and iNOS expression in HCC associated with poorly differentiation、invasion andmetastasis.3、The low or absent expression of iNOS and Arg-1both contributed tocacinoigenesis and tumor progression.4、Arg-1and iNOS will be candidate protein for judging hepatic differentiation.5、Detecting the expression of Arg-1and iNOS will contribute to assessment the riskfor recurrence of HCC patients.