S. Fukushima et al., THE FREQUENCY OF 4977-BASE-PAIR DELETION OF MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA IN VARIOUS TYPES OF LIVER-DISEASE AND IN NORMAL LIVER, Hepatology, 21(6), 1995, pp. 1547-1551
Using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, we tested for the hepa
tic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletion in 40 hepatic tumors (28 hepato
cellular carcinomas [HCCs], 9 other malignant tumors, and 3 benign tum
ors) and in the livers of 71 patients, including 16 pediatric patients
with end-stage liver disease who underwent living related donor Liver
transplantation and 16 liver donors. A 4977 base pair (bp) deletion o
f mtDNA was detected in 36 of 55 specimens of non-tumor portions of ad
ult liver (65.5%), However, none of the specimens obtained hom cirrhot
ic livers of the 16 pediatric patients younger than 13 years of age ha
d the 4977 bp deletion. The frequency of mtDNA deletion was significan
tly decreased compared with normal liver in HCCs (7 of 28) and other m
alignant Liver tumors (2 of 9). The frequency of this deletion was unr
elated to the presence of liver cirrhosis, patient's gender, hepatitis
B virus surface antigen status, and hepatitis C virus antibody status
.