Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common
liver cancer, accountable for 90% cases.
Visfatin and vaspin are
adipocytokines with various suggested functions and proven significant correlations between BMI and percentage of body fat. The aim was to assess
visfatin and vaspin serum levels in HCC patients and controls, compare their levels in patients with different
cancer etiology and grade assessed according to the Barcelona-Clinic
Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system. The additional aim was to analyze relationship between analyzed
adipokines and metabolic abnormalities and liver disfunction severity. The study was performed on 69 cirrhotic patients (54 males/15 females) with HCC, aged 59.0 ± 12.1 years, and with BMI 29.0 ± 4.5 kg/m2 compared to 20 healthy volunteers. Serum
visfatin and vaspin concentrations were significantly increased in HCC patients compared to controls (p = 0.01 and p = 0.02, respectively). Serum vaspin was significantly higher in HCC patients with viral compared to those with non-viral etiology (p = 0.02), with more evident increase in
chronic hepatitis C patients (CHC). Serum
visfatin levels were significantly higher in patients with higher
insulin resistance (p = 0.04) and with platelets count > 100 000/mm3 (p<0.001). Patients with BMI >30 kg/m2 had markedly up-regulated vaspin levels (p = 0.04). There was no difference in vaspin and
visfatin serum levels with respect to
liver dysfunction and BCLC classification. In conclusion, our study revealed serum vaspin and
visfatin to be significantly increased in HCC patients independently of
cancer etiology compared to controls. Additionally, serum vaspin was elevated in
viral disease, especially in CHC. Vaspin up-regulation can be a compensatory mechanism against IR in HCC patients. Serum
visfatin and vaspin, although up-regulated, seem not to be associated with
cancer grade and
cirrhosis severity.