Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 14, 2015; 21(22): 6999-7007
Published online Jun 14, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i22.6999
Assessment of the correlation between serum prolidase and alpha-fetoprotein levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Sevil Uygun Ilikhan, Muammer Bilici, Hatice Sahin, Ayşe Semra Demir Akca, Murat Can, Ibrahim Ilker Oz, Berrak Guven, M Cagatay Buyukuysal, Yucel Ustundag
Sevil Uygun Ilikhan, Muammer Bilici, Hatice Sahin, Department of Internal medicine, Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak 67100, Turkey
Ayşe Semra Demir Akca, Department of Family Medicine, Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak 67100, Turkey
Murat Can, Berrak Guven, Department of Biochemistry, Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak 67100, Turkey
Ibrahim Ilker Oz, Department of Radiology, Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak 67100, Turkey
M Cagatay Buyukuysal, Department of Biostatistic, Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak 67100, Turkey
Yucel Ustundag, Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Gastroenterology, Zonguldak 67100, Turkey
Author contributions: Uygun Ilikhan S, Bilici M, Sahin H and Ustundag Y designed the research; Can M, Guven B and Oz II performed the research; Buyukuysal MC analyzed the data; Uygun Ilikhan S, Bilici M, Sahin H and Demir Akca AS wrote the paper.
Ethics approval: The study was reviewed and approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Board of the Bülent Ecevit University.
Clinical trial registration: The study was reviewed and approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Board of the Bülent Ecevit University.
Informed consent: All study participants provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest: There are no conflicts of interest to report for any study authors.
Data sharing: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at aysesemra@hotmail.com. The presented data cannot be linked to individuals and risk of personal identification is minimal as such.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Ayşe Semra Demir Akca, Department of Family Medicine, Bülent Ecevit University Faculty of Medicine, Esenköy, Kozlu, Zonguldak 67100, Turkey. aysesemra@hotmail.com
Telephone: +90-372-2612000 Fax: +90-372-2610155
Received: October 23, 2014
Peer-review started: October 27, 2014
First decision: November 14, 2014
Revised: December 3, 2014
Accepted: February 12, 2015
Article in press: February 13, 2015
Published online: June 14, 2015
Processing time: 237 Days and 21.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Prolidase cleaves dipeptide bonds containing proline, playing a vital role in collagen turnover, matrix remodeling and cell growth. Neoplastic transformation results in deregulation of tissue collagen metabolism, in which metastatic tumor cells produce enhanced amounts of proteases to penetrate basement membranes and the extracellular matrix. Therefore, tumor progression might depend on the breakdown of collagen and other extracellular matrix proteins. The role of prolidase in neoplastic tissues is unknown. Herein, serum prolidase levels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients were significantly associated with tumor size and number, Barcelona-clinic liver cancer staging and α-fetoprotein (AFP). Considering the levels of both serum prolidase and AFP could contribute to early diagnosis of HCC.