Modulatory effects of expression of hemeoxygenase-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma with hemorrhagic iron overload microenvironment on oxidative stress of kupffer cells

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of hemeoxygenase-1 (HO-1) and its protective effects on oxidative stress of kupffer cells (KCs) in the microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with haemorrhagic iron overload. Methods Fifteen specimens from HCC with haemorrhage (bleeding group) and 10 cases without haemorrhage (non-bleeding group) were randomly collected. Immunohistochemical analysis (streptavidin-biotin peroxidase method) was used to determine the expression of HO-1, and flow cytometry (FCM) was used to detect the content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in KCs. Those expression amount was determined by image analyzer. Results Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the expression of HO-1 in bleeding group (0.41±0.05) was obviously higher than in non-bleeding group (0.18±0.03, P<0.01). FCM showed the content of ROS [(46.37±12.94)%] in KCs of bleeding group was markedly higher than in non-bleeding group [(28.25±11.65)%, P<0.05]. There was a marked positive correlation between the content of ROS in KCs and the expression of HO-1 in bleeding group (r=0.835, P<0.01) Conclusion HCC with bleeding caused the obvious expression of HO-1 in HCC tissues and the marked increasing content of ROS in KCs. Higher expression of HO-1 may protect the oxidative stress of KCs, and HO-1/CO message transduction may play a role in the anticancer of KCs. Key words: Carcinoma, hepatocellular; Kupffer cells; Iron overload excessive ferrous ion stress; Flow cytometry