Abstract
Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth most dominant cancer in the world and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the China. With the increase in the incidence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in the population, the correlation between MS and HCC has gradually been recognized. MS manifests as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (shortly known as NAFLD) in the liver. A large number of research results has shown that the development of fatty liver is closely related to the occurrence of HCC, in which lipid metabolism plays a key regulatory role, and lipid metabolism is regulated by fatty acid binding protein (FABP). This study signifies the lipid metabolism analysis and the key FABP expression conditions in HCC. Methods: Data of patients who were first diagnosed with primary HCC between January 2016 to July 2019 were collected, and were divided into two groups according to the etiology, namely the viral and non-viral hepatitis-related HCC group. The relationship between MS-related factors and HCC was analyzed by t-test and chi square test. The expressions of FABP1, FABP4 and FABP5 were detected in cancer and adjacent tissues by immunohistochemistry, and the expressions of FABP1, FABP4 and FABP5 in HCC with fatty liver were detected by immunofluorescence. Finally, the expressional characteristics of the above-mentioned FABPs in HCC patients were analyzed with different clinicopathological features. Results: There were statistically significant differences in the rate of abnormal lipid metabolism and the number of abnormalities in MS-related factors between the viral and non-viral hepatitis-related HCC group. FABP1, FABP4, and FABP5 expression in HCC tissues were lower than the corresponding adjacent tumor tissues. Compared with simple HCC, FABP1, FABP4, FABP5 expression were increased in HCC tissues with steatosis, and the expression of FABP was closely related to the clinical characteristics of patients. Conclusion: Abnormal lipid metabolism is closely related to non-viral hepatitis-related HCC. The expression of lipid metabolism regulatory proteins FABP1, FABP4, and FABP5 are down-regulated in HCC tissues, but up-regulated in HCC with fatty liver, suggesting that the relationship between MS, especially dyslipidemia, and HCC should be paid attention to in clinical practice for early intervention. FABP1, FABP4, FABP5 may regulate HCC occurrence and development.