ABSTRACT
The role of Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2 binding protein (WFA+ -M2BP) in the prediction of disease severity in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remains elusive. This study evaluated the performance of WFA+ -M2BP in predicting fibrosis in patients with NAFLD. A total of 80 patients with biopsy-proven nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) were enrolled. Serum WFA+ -M2BP levels were measured using standard methods. The fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index was also measured. The mean values of WFA+ -M2BP were 1.0, 1.0, 0.8, and 2.2 in Metavir fibrosis stage F0, F1, F2, and F3-4, respectively (linear trend p = 0.005). The optimal cut-off value of WFA+ -M2BP in predicting advanced fibrosis (F3-4) was 1.37 cut-off index (COI), yielding the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value, and accuracy of 75.0, 79.4, 39.1, 94.7, and 78.7%, respectively (p < 0.001). Combining WFA+ -M2BP with FIB-4 significantly increased the diagnostic performance for advanced fibrosis, yielding specificity, PPV, and accuracy of 100, 100, and 93%, respectively. The significant factors predicting advanced liver fibrosis in the multivariate regression analysis were WFA+ -M2BP ≥ 1.37 COI (OR/confidence interval [CI]: 9.49/1.63-55.21, p = 0.01) and FIB-4 ≥ 2.80 (OR/CI: 38.18/4.89-297.93, p = 0.001). Monitoring WFA+ -M2BP is suitable for noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis in NASH patients, particularly in combination with FIB-4.
Subject(s)
Antigens, Neoplasm/blood , Membrane Glycoproteins/blood , Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/blood , Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/diagnosis , Plant Lectins/blood , Receptors, N-Acetylglucosamine/blood , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Predictive Value of Tests , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
Hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) might be the origin of hepatocellular carcinoma. 1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) (VD3) has been documented as an anticancer agent for various cancers. However, the potential effect of VD3 on the proliferation and malignant transformation of HPCs induced by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) has not been determined. In this study, we found that AFB1 exhibited the stimulative effects on the proliferation, dedifferentiation and invasion of HPCs via activating AKT pathway but turning off Hippo pathway, which were terminated when VD3 was used in combination with AFB1. Furthermore, in AFB1-induced liver damage mouse model, VD3 also showed protective effect by reducing HPCs population. Together, these preclinical data not only provide a newly identified mechanism by which AFB1 affects HPCs but also strengthen the idea of developing VD3 as an anticancer agent.
Subject(s)
Aflatoxin B1/pharmacology , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology , Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic/drug effects , Hepatocytes/pathology , Liver Neoplasms/pathology , Stem Cells/pathology , Vitamin D/analogs & derivatives , Acyltransferases , Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing/genetics , Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing/metabolism , Animals , Apoptosis , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/drug therapy , Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/metabolism , Cell Dedifferentiation , Cell Proliferation , Female , Hepatocytes/drug effects , Hepatocytes/metabolism , Humans , Liver Neoplasms/drug therapy , Liver Neoplasms/metabolism , Mice , Mice, Inbred ICR , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/genetics , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism , Phosphoproteins/genetics , Phosphoproteins/metabolism , Poisons/pharmacology , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/genetics , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism , Stem Cells/drug effects , Stem Cells/metabolism , Transcription Factors/genetics , Transcription Factors/metabolism , Tumor Cells, Cultured , Vitamin D/pharmacology , Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays , YAP-Signaling ProteinsABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: Potent effects of Flt3 ligand (FL) on the development of the immune system have generated much interest in application of FL in cancer immunotherapy. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of Pichia pastoris secreted rhFL on the growth of mouse EL-4 lymphoma and C26 colon adenocarcinoma injected in syngeneic mice for the first time. METHODS: Mice were placed into one of two treatment groups. 2 x 10(5) EL-4 or C26 cells were injected subcutaneously (SC.) into mice on day 0. Group 1 received subcutaneous PBS injections from Day -7 to Day 14 and group 2 received subcutaneous rhFL injections at 30 microg/day from Day -7 to Day 14. Serial tumor areas were measured. On Day 22, mice from each group were sacrificed, and weight of tumors and spleens were evaluated. Data analysis used Student t tests. RESULTS: Pichia pastoris secreted rhFL resulted in tumor growth delay for both EL-4 lymphoma and C26 colon adenocarcinoma compared with control (P < 0.01). Tumors from rhFL-treated mice were smaller (P < 0.01) than controls while spleens larger (P < 0.01) than controls. Histological examination of tumor sections revealed an obvious increase in regions composed largely of infiltrating cells in the rhFL-treated tumors. Infiltrating cells could be detected in clusters among tumors from mice treated with rhFL whereas these cells were only occasionally detected in sections of control tumors. CONCLUSION: Treatment of rhFL expressed from Pichia pastoris resulted in an antitumor response against EL-4 and C26 tumors injected in syngeneic mice.
