Urinary and serum
pseudouridine concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography in 80 patients with primary
liver cancer, 32 with benign space occupying lesions of the liver, 42 with
liver cirrhosis and 40 healthy subjects. Their mean urinary and serum
pseudouridine levels were 39.2 +/- 11.5 nmol/mumol
creatinine and 3.4 +/- 1.3 mumol/L, 24.5 +/- 5.4 nmol/mumol
creatinine and 2.5 +/- 0.5 mumol/L, 22.8 +/- 7.8 nmol/mumol
creatinine and 2.3 +/- 0.4 mumol/L, 26.4 +/- 4.6 nmol/mumol
creatinine and 2.3 +/- 0.4 mumol/L, respectively. Exceeding the mean plus 2SD of
pseudouridine of healthy control was considered as positive value for the diagnosis of primary
liver cancer. Thus the positivity of urinary and serum
pseudouridine in
hepatoma was 71.3% and 70.0%, respectively. The positive rate of combined
pseudouridine and
alpha-fetoprotein assay was 91.3% in patients with
hepatoma. Besides,
pseudouridine levels could elevate before positive localization and reduce to normal levels after
tumor resection. The results showed that the determination of
pseudouridine is of clinical significance in the diagnosis and monitoring of primary
liver cancer.