title: Impact of serum chemerin levels on liver functional reserves and platelet counts in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: Obesity-related metabolic abnormalities, including adipokine imbalance and chronic inflammation, are involved in liver carcinogenesis. Chemerin, a novel adipokine, plays a critical role in adipogenesis, energy metabolism, and inflammation. We evaluated the impact of serum chemerin levels on liver functional reserves in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and on the recurrence and prognosis of HCC. This study included 44 patients with any stage of HCC who underwent curative treatment at Gifu Municipal Hospital (Gifu, Japan) between 2006 and 2007. Recurrence-free survival and overall survival were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Serum albumin levels (Pearson's correlation coefficient; r = 0.3110, p = 0.0399), platelet counts (r = 0.4159, p = 0.0050), and prothrombin times (r = 0.3775, p = 0.0115) were significantly correlated with serum chemerin levels in patients with HCC, and they were inversely correlated with Child-Pugh scores (r = -0.3732, p = 0.0126), serum alanine aminotransferase levels (r = -0.3864, p = 0.0105), and total bilirubin levels (r = -0.4023, p = 0.0068). Among these variables, a multiple comparison test identified that platelet counts and total bilirubin levels were associated with serum chemerin levels (p < 0.0083). No significant correlation was found between serum chemerin levels and recurrence-free survival (p = 0.3691) or overall survival (p = 0.7916). In HCC patients, serum chemerin concentrations were correlated with liver functional reserves and platelet counts, but not with recurrence or prognosis.
authors: Department of Gastroenterology/Internal Medicine, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan. ikenji@gifu-u.ac.jp.
authors: Kenji
authors: K
authors: Imai
authors: Department of Gastroenterology/Internal Medicine, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan. koz@gifu-u.ac.jp.
authors: Koji
authors: K
authors: Takai
authors: Department of Gastroenterology/Internal Medicine, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan. hanai0606@yahoo.co.jp.
authors: Tatsunori
authors: T
authors: Hanai
authors: Department of Gastroenterology/Internal Medicine, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan. mshiraki-gif@umin.ac.jp.
authors: Makoto
authors: M
authors: Shiraki
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Gifu Municipal Hospital, 7-1 Kashima-cho, Gifu 500-8323, Japan. usukesuzuki0915@yahoo.co.jp.
authors: Yusuke
authors: Y
authors: Suzuki
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Gifu Municipal Hospital, 7-1 Kashima-cho, Gifu 500-8323, Japan. hide-hayashi@umin.ac.jp.
authors: Hideki
authors: H
authors: Hayashi
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Gifu Municipal Hospital, 7-1 Kashima-cho, Gifu 500-8323, Japan. naiki-gif@umin.ac.jp.
authors: Takafumi
authors: T
authors: Naiki
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Gifu Municipal Hospital, 7-1 Kashima-cho, Gifu 500-8323, Japan. nishigak@he.mirai.ne.jp.
authors: Youichi
authors: Y
authors: Nishigaki
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Gifu Municipal Hospital, 7-1 Kashima-cho, Gifu 500-8323, Japan. etomita_jp@yahoo.co.jp.
authors: Eiichi
authors: E
authors: Tomita
authors: Department of Gastroenterology/Internal Medicine, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan. shimim-gif@umin.ac.jp.
authors: Masahito
authors: M
authors: Shimizu
authors: Department of Gastroenterology/Internal Medicine, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1194, Japan. hmori@gifu-u.ac.jp.
authors: Hisataka
authors: H
authors: Moriwaki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D018925:Chemokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018925:Chemokines; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C478630:RARRES2 protein, human