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novel therapeutic strategy for liver cancer in reference to the correlation of sarcopenia with Apelin-APJ system

Research Project

Project/Area Number 19K18122
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Review Section Basic Section 55020:Digestive surgery-related
Research InstitutionKyushu University

Principal Investigator

MOTOMURA Takashi  九州大学, 医学研究院, 共同研究員 (50719507)

Project Period (FY) 2019-04-01 – 2021-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2020)
Budget Amount *help
¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
Fiscal Year 2019: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Keywordsサルコペニア / Apelin / 微小血管 / 肝癌
Outline of Research at the Start

九州大学消化器・総合外科において肝細胞癌に対して肝切除術を施行した症例の、術前血漿中のApelinと肝癌腫瘍内のApelin発現を測定し、サルコペニアの有無による2群間で比較する。
PGC1α導入でサルコペニアマウスを作成し、これに肝癌細胞株を用いて皮下腫瘍を作成する。apelinを腹腔内投与し、サルコペニアの改善が得られる一方、皮下腫瘍の増大がないか確認する。

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Among consecutive 60 cases of resected intrahepatic cholangiocellular carcinoma, the expression of Apelin and microvascular surface were checked by immunohistochemistry staining.The microvascular surface was significantly higher in high Apelin expression group (p=0.03). High Apelin expression group tended to be younger (62 year-old vs 67, p=0.06). CEA, a tumor marker, was significantly lower in high Apelin group (3.19 ng/ml vs 7.11 ng/ml, p=0.04). Patients were divided into two: sarcopenia(n=12) and non-sarcopenia group (n=48) by gait speed, grip strength and muscle area in CT scan images. Intratumor Apelin expression was significantly higher in sarcopenia group (p=0.008). The long term survival was similar between high and low Apelin groups. But the 5-year overall survival was significantly worse in sarcopenia group (17% vs 72%).

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

高齢者においてApelin発現が低いことはNat Med 2018の既報に合致することで、さらにサルコペニア群でApelin発現が低いことも確認できた。一方でApelinは微小血管新生を促進させることもわかった。しかしながらサルコペニアは有意な予後不良因子であることが確認できた一方、Apelinの発現自体では長期生存率に差はないことから、Apelinは癌の予後を増悪させることなくサルコペニアの治療ターゲットとなり得るかもしれない。細胞や動物を用いた研究での確認が待たれるが、高齢化が進む本邦においてサルコペニアと癌の新規治療戦略につながる発見は社会的意義が大きいと考えられる。

Report

(3 results)
  • 2020 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2019 Research-status Report

URL: 

Published: 2019-04-18   Modified: 2022-01-27  

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