Liver cancer caused by diet or life style is a significant public health problem. Liver transplantation (LT) is a commonly used method of treatment for the liver cancer. The present study aimed to determine whether assessing the net state of natural killer (NK) cell function following LT distinguishes patients at risk for transplantation rejection. A total of 53 patients were involved; all underwent LT for hepatocellular carcinoma with (n=13) or without (n=40) transplantation rejection. The density of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in blood serum was examined and patients were divided into two groups: Higher (H) and lower (L), on the basis of IFN-γ density. The percentage of NK cells and their producing cytokines was detected using fluorescence-activated cell sorting in peripheral blood and liver samples. As evaluation indexes of liver function, aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) were detected in blood serum. NK cell activation of the H-group was observed to be higher than the L-group, specifically the expression of NK group 2D, cluster of differentiation 69 and IFN-γ were higher than the L-group. The H-group exhibited a higher level of AST and ALT, which indicates the potential for acute transplantation rejection. The results of the present study indicate that NK cells and NK-derived IFN-γ serve an important function in regulating the rejection of LT and tumor metastasis in response to LT.
Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma; interferon-γ; liver cancer; liver transplantation; natural killer cell.