Exposure to bacterial products lipopolysaccharide and flagellin and hepatocellular carcinoma: a nested case-control study
Metadata
Show full item recordEditorial
Biomed Central
Materia
Hepatocellular carcinoma Lipopolysaccharide Flagellin Endotoxins Prospective studies
Date
2017Referencia bibliográfica
Fedirko, V.; et al. Exposure to bacterial products lipopolysaccharide and flagellin and hepatocellular carcinoma: a nested case-control study. BMC Medicine, 15: 72 (2017). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/49763]
Sponsorship
This work was supported by the French National Cancer Institute (L’Institut National du Cancer; INCA) (grant number 2009-139; Principal Investigator: M. Jenab). The coordination of EPIC is financially supported by the European Commission (DG-SANCO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The national cohorts are supported by the Danish Cancer Society (Denmark); Ligue Contre le Cancer, Institut Gustave Roussy, Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale, and Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) (France); Deutsche Krebshilfe, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, and Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany); the Hellenic Health Foundation (Greece); the Sicilian Government, AIRE ONLUS Ragusa, AVIS Ragusa, Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro-AIRC-Italy, and National Research Council (Italy); Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS), Netherlands Cancer Registry (NKR), LK Research Funds, Dutch Prevention Funds, Dutch ZON (Zorg Onderzoek Nederland), World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), and Statistics Netherlands (the Netherlands); Nordic Centre of Excellence programme on Food, Nutrition and Health. (Norway); Health Research Fund (FIS), PI13/00061 to Granada), Regional Governments of Andalucía, Asturias, Basque Country, Murcia (no. 6236) and Navarra, Regional Government of Asturias (Asturias, Spain), and ISCIII RETIC (RD06/0020) (Spain); Swedish Cancer Society, Swedish Scientific Council, and County Councils of Skåne and Västerbotten (Sweden); Cancer Research UK (14136 to EPIC-Norfolk; C570/A16491 to EPIC-Oxford) and Medical Research Council (1000143 to EPIC-Norfolk) (United Kingdom); and a Girdlers’ New Zealand Health Research Council Fellowship (to Dr. K.E. Bradbury). The funding sources had no influence on the design of the study; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; the writing of the report; or the decision to submit the paper for publication.Abstract
Background: Leakage of bacterial products across the gut barrier may play a role in liver diseases which often precede
the development of liver cancer. However, human studies, particularly from prospective settings, are lacking.
Methods: We used a case-control study design nested within a large prospective cohort to assess the association
between circulating levels of anti-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and anti-flagellin immunoglobulin A (IgA) and G (IgG)
(reflecting long-term exposures to LPS and flagellin, respectively) and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma. A total of 139
men and women diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma between 1992 and 2010 were matched to 139 control
subjects. Multivariable rate ratios (RRs), including adjustment for potential confounders, hepatitis B/C positivity, and
degree of liver dysfunction, were calculated with conditional logistic regression.
Results: Antibody response to LPS and flagellin was associated with a statistically significant increase in the risk of
hepatocellular carcinoma (highest vs. lowest quartile: RR = 11.76, 95% confidence interval = 1.70–81.40; Ptrend = 0.021).
This finding did not vary substantially by time from enrollment to diagnosis, and did not change after adjustment for
chronic infection with hepatitis B and C viruses.
Conclusions: These novel findings, based on exposures up to several years prior to diagnosis, support a role
for gut-derived bacterial products in hepatocellular carcinoma development. Further study into the role of gut
barrier failure and exposure to bacterial products in liver diseases is warranted.