ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the expression of peroxiredoxin 1 (Prx 1) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) and to evaluate the relationship between the expressions of Prx 1 and the postoperative recurrence of this disease. Methods Immunohisto chemistry and Western blotting were performed to examine the expression of Prx 1 protein in 40 patients with HCC with PVTT. Experiments on Sprague Dawley (SD) rat hepatoma model were further carried out to observe the pathological changes of Prx 1 by immunohistochemistry. Clinical outcomes were analyzed to find a correlation between the recurrence and positive rate of Prx 1. Results The expression level of Prx 1 was significantly up-regulated in primary tumor tissues than in tumor thrombosis samples (P＜0.01). Immunohistochemistry results showed that the positive rate of Prx 1 in primary tumor tissues were higher than that in tumor thrombosis. Western blotting confirmed a same trend in the level of Prx 1, the average luminosity of the blots were 1534.2 and 735.6, respectively. There was a significant difference in SD rat hepatoma model, the 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24-week positive rates of Prx 1 in liver tumor tissues were 60%, 80%, 75% ,65%, 40% and 25% respectively. Clinical outcomes showed that the time to first postoperative recurrence of Prx 1 in the primary tumor positive group was significantly higher than that in the negative group (6. 3 vs 3. 7 months, P＜0. 01). Conclusions Prx 1 protein was down-regulated in HCC with PVTT. There was a negative correlation between the expression of Prx 1 and recurrence.