Expression of Miscellaneous Genes Upregulated in Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Alcoholic (ASH) and Non‐alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)

Abstract

Both non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH) can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the rate of progression to cirrhosis and tumorigenesis in ASH is greater than that in NASH. We asked whether there are differences between the two conditions in the expression levels of proteins involved in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma. The proteins tested were presented at the 2017 AASLD Liver Meeting as overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma: KLF4, SCL19A1, FANCG, HRH‐1, DNMT1, DNMT3B, TNFR2, DUSP4, EGFR, Integrin, HDACII, and PDE3A. The expression of these proteins was measured in liver biopsy sections from NASH, ASH and normal patients using immunohistochemical staining with fluorescent antibodies and then quantifying the fluorescence intensity morphometrically. In ASH patients, levels of all tested proteins except HRH‐1 were elevated compared to normal patients. In NASH patients, KLF4, SCL19A1, FANCG, DNMT1, DNMT3B, and HDACII levels were increased compared to normal controls while HRH‐1 and PDE3A levels were decreased. The relative expression of all proteins studied except DNMT‐1 was higher in ASH compared to NASH. In conclusion, proteins involved in hepatocellular cancer development are more highly expressed in ASH compared to NASH and normal liver, which corresponds with the higher rate of tumorigenesis in ASH patients compared to NASH patients.Support or Funding InformationThis study was funded by NIH/AAA grant # UO‐21898‐05This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.