An abnormal, fast-moving 5'-nucleotide phosphodiesterase isozyme was found in 90.0% of 20 Malaysian patients with primary hepatoma and in 23.5% of 391 Malaysian patients with various malignant diseases; it was also discovered in 42.9% of 14 Malaysian and American patients with clinically active hepatitis B infection; in 16.7% of 18 healthy American blood bank donors who were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg); in 13.9% of 287 healthy Malaysian blood bank donors, some positive for HBsAg; and in none of 160 healthy American donors who were negative for HBsAg. A correlation of this abnormal isozyme with hepatoma and with infectious hepatitis B is clearly evident.
The juice of the entire fresh herb and infusion of dried sample of Murdannia bracteata are consumed to treat liver cancer and diabetes in Malaysia. However, no scientific evidence of these bioactivities has been reported.
This study was undertaken to see if liver function tests (LFT) served a worthwhile purpose in the investigation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Sera from 80 HCC, 76 benign liver disease (BLD) and 152 healthy adult (HA) subjects were assayed for alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase, bilirubin and albumin. Cut-off values were determined from the HA. ALP, GGT, AST and albumin were abnormal in about 90% of the HCC. With the exception of bilirubin, the LFT were abnormal more frequently in HCC than in chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, the conditions which preceed it. Raised ALP in the presence of normal bilirubin was more often a feature of HCC than BLD although this relationship was not statistically significant. It seems unlikely that LFT serve a useful function in HCC.
To determine whether tumor marker pi glutathione transferase (GST-pi) is expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and other chronic liver diseases and to compare its expression with that of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP).
Glucoraphanin is the main glucosinolate found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables (Brassicaceae). The objective of the study was to evaluate whether glucoraphanin and its breakdown product sulforaphane, are potent modulators of various phase I and phase II enzymes involved in carcinogen-metabolising enzyme systems in vitro. The glucosinolate glucoraphanin was isolated from cruciferous vegetables and exposed to human hepatoma cell line HepG2 at various concentrations (0-25 μM) for 24 hours. Glucoraphanin at higher concentration (25 μM) decreased dealkylation of methoxyresorufin, a marker for cytochrome P4501 activity; supplementation of the incubation medium with myrosinase (0.018 U), the enzyme that converts glucosinolate to its corresponding isothiocyanate, showed minimal induction in this enzyme activity at concentration 10 μM. Quinone reductase and glutathione S-transferase activities were unaffected by this glucosinolate; however, supplementation of the incubation medium with myrosinase elevated quinone reductase activity. It may be inferred that the breakdown product of glucoraphanin, in this case sulforaphane, is superior than its precursor in modulating carcinogen- metabolising enzyme systems in vitro and this is likely to impact on the chemopreventive activity linked to cruciferous vegetable consumption.
This study was conducted to investigate the potential of bambangan (Mangifera pajang) fruit extracts in the protection against oxidative damage caused by tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the human hepatocellular HepG2 cell line. Proteins which might be involved in the cytoprotective mechanism were investigated using western blotting technique. Quercetin was used as a positive control. The results showed that only the kernel extract of M. pajang and quercetin displayed cytoprotective activity in HepG2 cells, with EC(50) values of 1.2 and 5.3μg/ml, respectively. Expression of quinone reductase, glutathione reductase and methionine sulfoxide reductase A proteins were significantly up-regulated by quercetin, suggesting their involvement in the cytoprotective activity of quercetin. However, expressions of only glutathione reductase and methionine sulfoxide reductase A proteins were significantly up-regulated by the kernel extract, again suggesting their involvement in the cytoprotective activity of bambangan kernel extract. Future study is needed to investigate the involvement of other cytoprotective proteins in the cytoprotection mechanism.