Abstract: Objective To investigate serum and tissue expressions and the clinical significances of prohibitin in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods Serum PHB levels in 82 HCC patients and 82 healthy individuals were determined by ELISA assay. The expression of PHB in the 30 pairs of HCC tissues, paracancerous tissues and normal tissues were detected by real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry assay. The clinical data were collected to determine thecorrelation between PHB and clinical features. Results Serum PHB protein level in HCC patients was significantly increased when compared with healthy individuals group (227.97 vs. 55.78 pg/mL, Z= -4.532, P=0.000). The expression of PHB in HCC patients had positive correlation with alanine aminotransferase (ALT, r=0.337, P=0.034), total bilirubin (TBil, r=0.431, P=0.006) and AFP (r=0.319, P=0.045). The positive rate of PHB in HCC tissues and paracancerous tissues were 73.3% and 86.7% that were significantly higher thanthat of the normal tissues, respectively. The PHB mRNA expression in HCC tissues and paracancerous tissues were also higher than that of the normal tissues. The expression of PHB in HCC patients had correlation with differentiation grade, TNM stage and AFP. Conclusion PHB is overexpressed in HCC patients tissues and serum and correlated with the degree of liver injury and tumor malignancy, indicating that PHB may be involved in the occurrence and progression of HCC.

Key words: Prohibitin, Hepatocellular carcinoma, AFP, Serum, Tissue