Nuclear factor kappa-b, tumor necrosis factor- a and the transforming growth factor- b as biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma on top of hcv infection

Abstract EN

Objective: The current study was aimed to investigate the usefulness of nuclear factor kappa- B (NF- B) expression, tumor necrosis factor (TNF- ) and the transforming growth factor- (TGF-1) as markers in prediction and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on top of HCV. Materials and Methods: The current study was performed on 30 male Egyptian patients, their age ranged from 43 to 74.

Twenty patients with hepatitis C virus–related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCV-related HCC) with no evidence of extrahepatic metastasis or hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and 10 Egyptian patients with chronic active hepatitis C virus, with matched age and sex. All patients were infected with HCV genotype-4a.

Fasting blood samples were collected from all subjects (10 ml each).

1 ml was added onto EDTA for immediate extraction of NF- B RNA.

The serum was used for the qualitative determination of HCVantibodies, quantitative determination of HCV-RNA by PCR, quantitative determination of the bio-markers (AFP-TNF- and TGF-1), as well as quantitative determination alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and albumin. Results revealed a non significant change in HCV-RNA and ALT in HCV-related HCC patients compared to HCV infected patients.

Whereas, TGF-, TNF-, AFP and NF- B were increased significantly in HCV-related HCC patients compared to HCV infected patients.

Stepwise multi-regression analysis showed that NF- B (more than 1.49 fold change) with TGF- (more than 8438 pg/ml) together are the most sensitive predictors for HCC. Conclusion: NF- B, TGF- are the most sensitive predictors for HCC on top of HCV.