title: Expression and clinical significance of angiotensin II type 1 receptor in human hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: This study aimed to investigate the expression of angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT-1R) mRNA and the AT-1R protein in human primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC), and to attempt to elucidate their association with pathological and clinical characteristics. Fresh tumor and normal liver tissues were obtained from 44 patients with PHC following hepatectomies. AT-1R mRNA levels were quantitatively analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) while the protein levels were assessed by immunohistochemistry. The expression levels of AT-1R were observed in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and normal liver tissues. The level of AT-1R protein expression in normal liver tissues was higher compared with that in PHC tissues (P=0.0033). The AT-1R mRNA levels were higher in patients with negative hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), normal α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels and high tumor differentiation, compared with those in patients with positive HBsAg (P=0.0005), upregulated AFP levels (P=0.0008) and poor tumor differentiation (P=0.0290). No significant correlation was identified between the expression levels of AT-1R mRNA and general characteristics such as gender, age, cirrhotic nodules, tumor size, tumor encapsulation, tumor number, carcinoma embolus, tumor metastasis or tumor recurrence. Downregulated levels of AT-1R mRNA and AT-1R protein may indicate a poor prognosis for patients with PHC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Transplantation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yun-Fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, Jiangsu 213003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Dong
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, Jiangsu 213003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Liver Transplantation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210029, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: angiotensin II type 1 receptor; differentiation; hepatocellular carcinoma