The expression and clinical value of CHI3L1 in hepatocellular carcinoma / 中华检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the clinical management value of chitinase 3-like 1 protein(CHI3L1) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by studying the expression of CHI3L1 in peripheral blood, liver cancer and paired adjacent non-tumor tissues.Methods:Retrospective study. From 2013 to 2017, 405 patients with HCC in Third Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University were enrolled into the study. Meanwhile, 112 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC), 114 health subjects were included as disease and health controls. CHI3L1 in peripheral blood was detected by ELISA kit. Tissues array was made by collecting 90 pairs of tumor tissues and matched paracancer tissues, from HCC patients who were conformed by pathology. The expression of CHI3L1 in HCC tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Differences between independent groups were tested by Mann-Whitney U test or Kruskal Wallis H test, Pearson correlation analysis was used for analyzing the relationship between two subjects, and matched rank sum test was used for cancer tissue and adjacent tissue comparison. Results:The median (quartile) of CHI3L1 protein in LC group, HCC group and NC group was 195.8 (103.3,330.4) μg/L,118.2 (74.9,201.0) μg/L,46.8 (30.7,66.4) μg/L independently. The protein level of CHI3L1 in LC group was significantly higher than that in HCC group and health control group ( Z=5.186,12.928, P<0.001). HCC group was significantly higher than that in health control group ( Z=10.788, P<0.001). The level of CHI3L1 in HCC group was not related to whether liver cirrhosis was accompanied ( Z=-0.286, P=0.775). The level of serum CHI3L1 was positively correlated with noninvasive fibrosis markers (HA, PⅢNP, Ⅳ-C, FIB-4 index) ( r=0.202,0.159,0.299 and 0.221, P<0.05) and negatively correlated with ALB( r=-0.326, P<0.05) while positively correlated with AST and PT( r=0.138, 0.160, P<0.05). Positively correlation was observed between CHI3L1 and tumor size ( r=0.284, P<0.001). CNLC stage [CHI3L1 level in advanced group125.2(81.9,228.5)μg/L was higher than that in early group112.0(70.2,169.2)μg/L ( Z=-2.326, P=0.018)], but no correlation with microvascular invasion( Z=-1.531) and tumor capsule(χ 2=0.818, P>0.05). In 73 cases of HCC tissues, the positive rate of CHI3L1 was 78% (57/73) in cancer tissues and 83%(61/73) in paired adjacent non-tumor tissues. The staining intensity score of paracancer tissue 1.5(1.5,2.5) was higher than that of cancer tissue 1.5(1.5,2.0)( Z=-2.053, P=0.040). Conclusions:The tissue source of CHI3L1 protein in HCC includes cancer tissue and paracancerous tissue. The detection of serum CHI3L1 level is helpful to evaluate tumor load assessment and disease stratification management in HCC.