Clinical Significance of Pokemon and Osteopontin genes in Hepatocellular Carcinoma among Egyptian Patients

Abstract

Osteopontin and Pokemon genes may have an important role in the pathogenesis of different malignancies. Osteopontin is a glycoprotein of extracellular matrix and Pokemon is a regulator of transcription. Both have been hypothesized to be useful as therapeutic targets or diagnostic markers. We aimed to assess the role of both in hepatocellular carcinoma and liver fibrosis due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection .The study was conducted on 50 patients and classified them into three groups – Group I: Patients with HCV-related HCC (n=30); Group II: Patients with hepatitis C cirrhosis (n=10) and Group III: Patients with hepatitis C fibrosis (n=10), We found high levels of Osteopontin and Pokemon gene expression in group I. Osteopontin levels were high in patients with liver fibrosis and it was correlated to parameters such as alpha fetoprotein and caspase. In conclusion HCC is associated with overexpression of both Osteopontin and Pokemon and that Osteopontin plays a significant role in liver fibrosis due to hepatitis C infection.