Abstract
Hepatofibrosis can progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Prevention, stabilization, and reversal of disease progression are vital for patients with hepatofibrosis, and identifying the risk factors for hepatofibrosis is urgently needed. In this study, we examined the activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in the fibrotic livers of HCC patients (n = 88) and comparied these results with activities in patients with normal livers (n = 74). A fibrosis-carcinoma rat model was used to study the activity of ADH in fibrosis and HCC and the relationship between innate ADH activity and the extent of hepatofibrosis or HCC. Substantial interindividual variations were found in the activities of ADH and ALDH in normal livers. The activity levels of total ADH, ADHI, and ADHII in fibrotic livers were significantly higher than those in normal livers (P < 0.001), whereas the activity of ALDH was slightly greater. The positive rates of ADHI and ADHII were 84.1% and 77.3%, respectively; the areas under the receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curve were 0.943 and 0.912, respectively. For the rat model compared with controls, ADH activity in liver was significantly increased at the fibrotic and HCC stages, and no significant difference was noted between ADH activity in the liver at these two stages. The innate activity of ADH in serum was well correlated with the extent of hepatofibrosis as indicated by Masson area%, Ki67+%, proliferating cell nuclear antigen +%, and GST-p average density at fibrotic stage but not at HCC stage. A higher level of activity of ADH is a risk factor for hepatofibrogenesis and might be a prevention target for hepatofibrosis.
Highlights
Hepatofibrosis, a common pathophysiology of chronic liver disease with various causes, leads to abnormal extracellular matrix deposition and to a pathologic process of liver structural and functional abnormalities (Wheeler et al, 2001; Bataller et al, 2004)
The two greatest individual variations were evidenced in the activity of ADH and Activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in normal (n = 74) and fibrotic livers (n = 88)
This study provides the physiologic values of ADH and ALDH activities along with the ratio ADH to ALDH in human normal livers
Summary
Hepatofibrosis, a common pathophysiology of chronic liver disease with various causes, leads to abnormal extracellular matrix deposition and to a pathologic process of liver structural and functional abnormalities (Wheeler et al, 2001; Bataller et al, 2004). Hepatofibrosis is mostly asymptomatic in its early stages, but as it progresses, it disrupts the liver architecture and function, leading to cirrhosis and even hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (Bataller et al, 2004). Fibrosis is potentially reversible, but it has been widely accepted that liver cirrhosis is irreversible and has no effective therapeutic drug treatment. Prevention, stabilization, or reversal of disease progression is very important for patients with hepatofibrosis, and identification of the risk factors for hepatofibrosis is urgently needed.
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