Serum Beclin 1 in HCC and correlation with MDA as an oxidant

Background
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most lethal cancer worldwide with persistently increasing mortality in Europe, North/South America, and Africa, in contrast to the decreasing trend in East Asia. Cirrhosis was estimated to cause more than 1.2 million deaths (2% of global deaths) in 2013, an increase of 47% since 1990.


Aim
The aim was to assess serum Beclin 1 as a biomarker in HCC regarding its role in pathogenesis and its correlation with serum malondialdehyde (MDA) as an oxidant.


Patients and methods
This is a case–control study conducted on 60 participants who were divided into two groups: group 1 included 30 patients with HCC, comprising 26 males and four females, with ages ranging from 55 to 75 years. Group II included 30 healthy participants as a control group, comprising 21 males and nine females, with ages ranging from 25 to 42 years. Routine laboratory investigations were done, and serum Beclin 1 and serum MDA were measured in both groups. Abdominal ultrasonography and triphasic computed tomography were done for the patient group. All patients were recruited from Internal Medicine Department (Al-Mansoura University Hospital) after obtaining oral consent to be participated in the study.


Results
There was a highly significant decrease in serum Beclin 1 levels (<0.001) in patients with HCC when compared with the control group. The significant association between Beclin 1 and HCC suggests that low Beclin 1 levels may play an important role in the development of HCC. Moreover, there was a statistically significant increased serum MDA level (>0.001) in patients with HCC as compared with control group. There was a positive correlation between Beclin 1 and BMI in the patient group (r=0.42 and P=0.02), a negative correlation between MDA and red blood cells in the patient group (r=−0.40 and P=0.03), and a positive correlation between MDA and aspartate transaminase in the patient group (r=0.41 and P=0.02).


Conclusion
Findings of our study have demonstrated that serum Beclin 1 and MDA levels could be used as possible predictors of pathogenesis of HCC.