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Liver p53 expression in patients with HCV‐related chronic hepatitis
Author(s) -
Loguercio C.,
Cuomo A.,
Tuccillo C.,
Gazzerro P.,
Cioffi M.,
Molinari A. M.,
Del Vecchio Blanco C.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of viral hepatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1365-2893
pISSN - 1352-0504
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2893.2003.00432.x
Subject(s) - hepatocellular carcinoma , cirrhosis , hepatitis c virus , medicine , liver disease , liver biopsy , gastroenterology , hepatitis c , apoptosis , alcoholic liver disease , fatty liver , oncogene , biology , biopsy , immunology , virus , cancer , disease , cell cycle , biochemistry
Summary. Mutated p53 acts as a dominant oncogene and alterations in the p53 gene are described in a large number of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It has been demonstrated that hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐core protein regulates transcriptionally cellular genes, as well as cell growth and apoptosis. This study was undertaken to evaluate whether p53 may be expressed also in a precocious stage of HCV‐related liver damage. We studied p53 expression by immunoluminometric assay on liver samples from 40 patients (M/F 18/ 22, median age 44 years, range 13–64 years) with biopsy‐proven HCV‐related chronic hepatitis. We considered the following factors: degree of liver damage, liver iron content and HCV‐RNA titre. We also evaluated as possible co‐factors alcohol and food intake in the last 3 years. p53 was over‐expressed in seven of 40 (17.5%) patients. Liver histology documented the presence of unexpected cirrhosis in two patients among the p53 positive subjects. The p53 positive group had a daily ethanol intake significantly higher in respect to that of the p53 negative group ( P < 0.05). Alimentary history documented that patients with a p53 over‐expression had a lower intake of total calories, monounsaturated fatty acids, vitamin C and riboflavin. Data indicate that p53 over‐expression can occur even in initial stages of HCV‐related liver disease.