Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have a role in chronic inflammation. Still, little is known about the expression of TLRs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Herein, we tried to assess the prognostic value of TLR2 and TLR4 expression on circulating monocytes in HCC patients and correlate their levels with some clinical, laboratory data, and treatment outcomes. Forty patients with hepatic focal lesions diagnosed radiologically as HCC by triphasic multislice CT pelviabdominal and chest, and in some patients MRI diffusion and 38 age and sex matching healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Subjects were evaluated for liver functions, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), imaging, response to different treatments, and overall survival. TLR2 and TLR4 expression by monocytes was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of both TLR2 and TLR4 on monocytes was significantly increased in HCC patients than the controls, in patients with more progressive HCC than those with lower progression and in patients with poor response to treatment than patients with better treatment response. Moreover, their levels showed positive correlations with ALT, AST, and AFP and inverse correlations with the overall survival of HCC patients. The results of the current study suggest that increased expression ofTLR2 and TLR4 on peripheral monocytes might reflect the development and progression of HCC and can be used to indicate poor prognosis. In addition, high expression of TLR2 correlated significantly with poor response to treatment, while high expression of both TLR2 and TLR4 were associated with poor survival. Our findings will help to design more studies on the role of TLRs in HCC pathogenesis and prognosis which may provide new therapeutic targets for HCC.

中文翻译：

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Toll样受体2和4表达对埃及肝细胞癌患者单核细胞的预后影响。

Toll样受体（TLR）在慢性炎症中起作用。对于TLRs在肝细胞癌（HCC）中的表达仍然知之甚少。本文中，我们试图评估TLR2和TLR4表达对HCC患者循环单核细胞的预后价值，并将其水平与一些临床，实验室数据和治疗结果相关联。经三层多层螺旋CT盆腔腹部和胸部经放射学诊断为HCC的40例肝局灶性病变患者，并在某些患者中进行了MRI扩散检查和38位年龄和性别相匹配的健康对照。评估受试者的肝功能，甲胎蛋白（AFP），影像学，对不同治疗的反应以及总生存期。通过流式细胞术检测单核细胞的TLR2和TLR4表达。与对照组相比，HCC患者中单核细胞上TLR2和TLR4的表达均显着增加，与进展程度较低的患者相比，进行性HCC较高的患者以及对治疗反应较差的患者对治疗的反应较差。此外，它们的水平与ALT，AST和AFP呈正相关，与HCC患者的整体生存呈负相关。目前的研究结果表明，外周血单核细胞上TLR2和TLR4表达的增加可能反映了HCC的发生和发展，可用于预后不良。此外，TLR2的高表达与对治疗的不良反应密切相关，而TLR2和TLR4的高表达与不良的生存率相关。