Bile acids as Novel Indicator of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Small-Molecule Markers Screening from Bile Fluid to Serum

The identification of a sensitive and specific serum marker will facilitate the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and increase patient survival rates. In this study, bile fluid from 82 patients suffering from hepatic carcinoma (n=40), gall-stone (n=20), cystic polypi (n=15) and hepatic benign lesions (n=7) were analyzed through a high-efficient Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) mass spectrometry metabolic profiling strategy. The acquired data were subjected to orthogonal signal correction-partial least squares discriminate analysis (OSC-PLSDA) to extract the significant bile fluid components that played a key role in defining the disease state. Subsequently, univariate analysis was utilized to narrow the scope of potential metabolic markers that were HCC specific. Finally, a bile acid that had elevated concentrations in the bile fluid as well as in the sera of HCC patients was screened out. By using this bile acid as a marker, the HCC screening sensitivity increased from 62% (based on alpha-fetoprotein, AFP) to 93%. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated that bile acid would be useful serum indicator for HCC diagnosis.The identification of a sensitive and specific serum marker will facilitate the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and increase patient survival rates. In this study, bile fluid from 82 patients suffering from hepatic carcinoma (n=40), gall-stone (n=20), cystic polypi (n=15) and hepatic benign lesions (n=7) were analyzed through a high-efficient Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC) mass spectrometry metabolic profiling strategy. The acquired data were subjected to orthogonal signal correction-partial least squares discriminate analysis (OSC-PLSDA) to extract the significant bile fluid components that played a key role in defining the disease state. Subsequently, univariate analysis was utilized to narrow the scope of potential metabolic markers that were HCC specific. Finally, a bile acid that had elevated concentrations in the bile fluid as well as in the sera of HCC patients was screened out. By using this bile acid as a marker, the HCC screening sensitivity increased from 62% (based on alpha-fetoprotein, AFP) to 93%. Conclusion: These findings demonstrated that bile acid would be useful serum indicator for HCC diagnosis