Expression of telomerase activity and oxidative stress in human hepatocellular carcinoma with cirrhosis.

Abstract

To study the expression and significance of telomerase activity and oxidative stress in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with cirrhosis. In this study, TRAP-ELISA assay was used to determine telomerase activity in 21 cases of HCC as well as in 23 cases of hepatic cirrhosis. Malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and total anti-oxidative capacity (T-AOC) were also examined in the same samples with human MDA, GST and T-AOC kits. Eighteen of 21 cases of HCC were found to have increased telomerase activity, whereas only three of the 23 non-cancerous cirrhotic samples were found to have weak telomerase activity, and the difference was significant (P<0.001). No significant difference in telomerase activity was detected according to different tumor size, tumor stage, histological grade, HBsAg, contents of albumin, bilirubin, ALT, AFP, r-GT and platelet. There were significant differences between HCC and cirrhosis in the expression of MDA, GST and T-AOC respectively. Telomerase activity correlated positively with the content of MDA (P<0.05). Telomerase activation is the early event of carcinogenesis, which is not correlated with clinicopathological factors of HCC. The dysfunction of the anti-oxidative system is closely correlated with the progression from cirrhosis to hepatocellular carcinoma. Oxidative stress may contribute partly to telomerase activation.