Background & objective: The growth hormone receptor mRNA is abundant in normal liver tissue, but its expression was not studied in detail in the tissue of liver cancer or para-cancer cirrhotic liver. This study was designed to investigate the expression of growth hormone receptor mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma and para-cancer cirrhotic liver tissue.
Methods: The expression of growth hormone receptor mRNA was detected in 37 specimens of hepatocellular carcinoma and their para-cancer liver tissue by RT-PCR.
Results: The expression rate of growth hormone receptor mRNA in hepatocellular cancerous tissue (30/37, 81%) was significantly lower than that in cirrhotic liver tissue (32/32, 100%) (P < 0.05). The expression rate in undifferentiated hepatocellular carcinoma (1/4, 20%) decreased further (P < 0.05). The expression of growth hormone receptor mRNA in cirrhotic liver tissue [ratio of integrated Optical Density (riOD) 30.77% +/- 8.24%, n = 32] was significantly lower than that in normal control liver tissue (riOD 44.93% +/- 6.25%, n = 5) (P < 0.05). The expression in severe cirrhotic liver tissue (riOD 21.90% +/- 4.72%, n = 8) decreased further (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: The down-regulated expression of growth hormone receptor mRNA was related to the pathological stage of hepatocellular cancer and the stage of liver cirrhosis.