Abstract

Recent findings have indicated that insulin-like growth factors(IGF-I &-II) and it's binding proteins(IGFBPs) may play a role in neoplasia. Hepatoma is a common malignancy in this country and the liver is probably the source of most circulating IGFs and IGFBP-3. We have studied serum IGFBPs pattern in hepatoma(n=20) and liver cirrhosis(n=10) by using western ligand blot(WLB) and radioimmunoassay(RIA). Serum IGFBP-3 level was signif- icantly decreased in hepatoma and liver cirrhosis. Mean serum IGFBP-31evel was 2443(+- l258) ng/ml in hepatoma, 1308(+-381) ng/ml in liver cirrhosis, and 4706(+-519) ng/ml in healthy subject. There was a discrepancy of IGFBP-3 levels, as determined by RIA and WLB. This discrepancy can be explained by IGFBP-3 protease activity, which was found in serum from some hepatoma but not from liver cirrhosis. We also observed the decreased level of serum IGFBP-2 in both groups. Serum IGFBP-1 and -4 were decreased in only liver cirrhosis. We speculate the alteration of IGFBPs pattern in hepatoma would be due to decreased hepatic synthesis of IGFBPs, especially IGFBP-3 and serum IGFBP-3 protease activity, and the role of serum IGFBPs should be further studied.

• Keywords: Serum, IGFBPs, Hepatoma, Cirrhosis