Liver Resection Promotes (Regulates) Proinflammatory Cytokines in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: Several animal studies have shown the roles of cytokines in regulating liver regeneration following liver resection (LR), which is a type of surgery designed to remove cancerous tumors from the liver. This study investigated how the expressions and serum levels of some pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were changed during LR.
Methods: Liver tissues from 15 patients with HCC were collected and the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- α ), IL-1 α , IL-1 β , IL-10, and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF- β 1) were assessed using real-time PCR assay at different times before and after LR. The serum values of TNF- α and IL-6 were also measured by ELISA.
Results: After 60 and 90 minutes of LR, IL-6 gene expression was significantly increased ( P < 0.001 - 0.05). The same trend was also observed in TNF- α expression after 90 minutes of LR ( P < 0.01). No significant changes were observed in the expressions of IL-1 α , IL-1 β , IL-10, and TGF- β 1 before and after LR. In addition, LR had significant effects on TNF- α and IL-6 serum levels ( P < 0.05 - 0.0001).
Conclusion: Our data provided further evidence to reveal that IL-6 and TNF- α cytokines are critical to improve liver regeneration.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2021 Farshid Fathi et al.)