p53 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression in non-tumoral liver diseases

The tumor suppressor gene p53 is known to be involved in the negative regul ation of cell growth, Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), which is a nuclear protein and a component of the DNA replication process, is also in volved in growth regulation, Both have been studied as progression markers in various tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma. In the present study, the aberrant p53 protein and PCNA expressions in non-tumoral liver disease s were investigated, Using monoclonal antibodies anti-p53 (D07-DAKO) and an ti-PCNA (PC10-DAKO), 149 samples were stained, including 10 normal and 10 t umoral control liver tissues, p53 Overexpression was detected in 52 specime ns (35%) whereas PCNA positivity was found in 96 (64%), There were 21 diffe rent pathological entities but most of the positive samples could be groupe d into four types of diseases; namely, non-specific reactive hepatitis, ste ato-hepatitis, chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, Statistical analyses perfor med on these groups revealed that p53 positivity was found to be significan tly higher in steatohepatitis (P < 0.05), while PCNA positivity did not sho w any statistical significance, The number of samples showing both p53 and PCNA positivity was 42 but their coexistence was not found to be significan t, Certain cytological alterations like nuclear pleomorphism, steatosis and cholestasis, in addition to necroinflammatory activity, were evaluated for their possible impact on p53 andlor PCNA positivity, Necroinflammatory act ivity in steatohepatitis and steatosis in chronic hepatitis was found to be significant for p53 positivity (P < 0.05), In contrast, nuclear pleomorphi sm in non-specific reactive hepatitis was found to be significant for PCNA positivity (P < 0.05).