RESUMO
Objective:To investigate the expression of eukaryotic translation initiation 2α (p-elF2α) and activated translation factor 4 (ATF4) in liver tissues of patients with chronic hepatitis B and their correlation with liver fibrosis.Methods:From Jan.2016 to Jan.2019, 158 cases of chronic hepatitis B patients were enrolled in our hospital. The expression levels of p-elF2α and ATF4 in different stages of liver fibrosis were evaluated by hematoxy-eosin (HE) and immunohistochemical staining, and the correlation was analyzed by Spearman rank correlation.Results:The pathological results of liver specimens showed that there were 19 normal controls (S0), 29 S1, 42 S2, 35 S3 and 33 S4 in each stage of fibrosis. The levels of p-eIF2α and ATF4 in fibrosis group were significantly higher than those in normal control group ( P< 0.001). Additionally, the levels of p-eIF2α and ATF4 in different stages of fibrosis were significantly different. The grade of hepatic fibrosis was positively correlated with the scores of p-eIF2α and ATF4 staining in liver tissues, and the correlation coefficients were 0.473 and 0.422 respectively ( P< 0.05). Conclusions:Hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B is positively correlated with p-eIF2α and ATF4. p-eIF2α-ATF4 pathway may involve in the process of chronic hepatitis B-induced hepatic fibrosis.