Purpose: Metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance have been linked to increased risk of occurrence and mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recently, retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) was clarified as a specific serological marker of insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to determine whether serum RBP4 could be used as a potential marker for predicting prognosis in patients with HCC after curative resection.

Methods: Western immunoblotting and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to measure the RBP4 expression in cell lines, supernatant, and serum. Serum RBP4 levels were compared with clinicopathological features and outcomes of patients with HCC. Furthermore, we investigated the impact of serum RBP4 level, serum C-peptide level, and HOMA-IR on overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with HCC in the training cohort (156 patients with HCC), and then were validated in the validation cohort (105 patients with HCC).

Results: RBP4 protein overexpressed in HCC cell lines compared with normal liver cell line (P < 0.001) and correlated with metastatic potential. Serum RBP4 levels were associated with OS [hazard ratio (HR) = 2.208, P < 0.001] and DFS (HR = 1.878, P = 0.029) of patients with HCC. By multivariate analysis, the serum RBP4 level was identified as an independent factor for OS (HR = 2.170, P = 0.004) and DFS (HR = 1.769, P = 0.037) of patients with HCC. The prognostic value of serum RBP4 level was confirmed in the validation cohort.

Conclusions: The serum RBP4 level is potential to be a useful prognostic factor for HCC after curative resection.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00432-010-0927-3DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

serum rbp4
28
patients hcc
24
rbp4 level
16
rbp4
10
hcc
9
serum
9
retinol-binding protein
8
patients
8
prognosis patients
8
hepatocellular carcinoma
8

Similar Publications

Background: We aimed to investigate the potential of altered levels of various acute phase proteins (APPs) in the plasma, either used alone or in combination with ultrasound-, clinical-, and conventional blood-based tests, for predicting the risk of intra-amniotic inflammation (IAI), microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity (MIAC), histologic chorioamnionitis (HCA), and funisitis in women with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM).

Methods: A total of 195 consecutive pregnancies involving singleton women with PPROM (at 23 + 0-34 + 0 weeks) who underwent amniocentesis and from whom plasma samples were obtained at amniocentesis were retrospectively included in this study. Amniotic fluid (AF) was cultured to assess the MIAC and analyzed for interleukin (IL)-6 levels to define IAI (AF IL-6 level of ≥2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: There is still uncertainty regarding the association between maternal serum levels of retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4) and pregnancy outcomes. This study aimed to determine the association between RBP4 levels and incidence of small/large for gestational age (SGA/LGA) infants among the Chinese population.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 11,854 pregnant women who delivered at Changzhou Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital between 2016 and 2017 and whose serum RBP4 levels were measured at the time of admission.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a major cause of disability, with complications postinjury often leading to lifelong health issues with the need for extensive treatment. Neurological outcome post-SCI can be variable and difficult to predict, particularly in incompletely injured patients. The identification of specific SCI biomarkers in blood may be able to improve prognostics in the field.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Midlife obesity may increase the risk of late-onset dementia, and studying adipokines (substances secreted by fat cells) could help understand this link in aging brains.
  • Researchers analyzed serum concentrations of specific adipokines and their relationships to brain MRI markers in 1,882 middle-aged adults from the Framingham Heart Study.
  • The study found that higher levels of certain adipokines, particularly RBP4, were associated with brain atrophy, including reduced brain volumes and increased ventricular sizes, suggesting that these factors could play a role in cognitive decline during midlife.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Elevated RBP4 in Subclinical Ketosis Cows Inhibits Follicular Granulosa Cell Proliferation and Steroid Hormone Synthesis.

Animals (Basel)

October 2024

Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Livestock and Poultry Product Safety Engineering, Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, China.

The mechanism by which subclinical ketosis (SCK) causes postpartum reproductive disorders in dairy cows remains unclear. In this study, cows within the day 14 to 21 postpartum period were categorized into the SCK group or the control group. Subsequently, they were monitored until 45 d to 60 d postpartum and divided into the SCK anestrus group (SCK-AE, = 12) and the control estrus group (C-E, = 12).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!