Revista de carcinogénesis y mutagénesis

Abstracto

Evaluation of the Expression of c-MYC Protein during Liver Fibrosis Progression in Chronic Hepatitis Developed by Hepatitis C Virus Infected Patients

Terezinha Morato Bastos de Almeida, Regina Maria Cubero Leitão, Flair José Carrilho, Ana Maria Gonçalves da Silva and Shigueko Sonohara

Data on the onset and progression of fibrosis related to c-MYC protein expression in chronic hepatitis by C virus are scarce. In this work we evaluated by immunohistochemical method the expression of c-MYC protein in the liver parenchyma without fibrosis, and during its progression. Seventy-eight liver samples from Hepatitis C virus infected patients with different degrees of fibrosis (F0 to F4) were studied. Eleven healthy liver samples were included. All samples from chronic hepatitis were stained by hematoxylin-eosin method, and classified by METAVIR scoring system. The expression of c-MYC protein was evaluated in 1000 hepatocytes from each parenchyma area by immunohistochemistry. Results showed that c-MYC expression in hepatocytes from fibrosis samples (F1-F4) was higher, and statistically significant (P<0.05) when compared with the control group. The same results were obtained when comparing F4 vs F0; F1; F2 and F3. In contrast, the comparisons between F0 vs control; F1 vs F2; F1 vs F3; and F2 vs F3 did not present significant differences (P>0.05). In conclusion, our study showed that c-MYC protein is present in the initial degrees of fibrosis, but over-expressed in F4. This fact suggests that alteration of c-MYC expression may induce genetic instability, deregulating the cell cycle and/or apoptosis, which might contribute to progression of fibrosis and ultimately predisposing to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.