Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, affecting over 700,000 people per year. The treatment effect in advanced HCC is still disappointing and prognosis of advanced HCC remains poor. Hence, to find more effective therapeutic targets to improve the treatment outcome of HCC is of urgent need. In this study, we reported the novel oncogenic function of SAAL1 (serum amyloid A-like 1) in HCC, which previously is considered as an inflammation-related gene. We found that SAAL1 was significantly upregulated in HCC tumor tissues when compared to the adjacent normal tissues and high expression of SAAL1 correlated with shorter overall survival in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) HCC database. Functionally, we showed that the depletion of SAAL1 significantly reduced cell proliferation, 3D colony formation, and migration/invasion abilities of HCC cancer cells. Furthermore, suppression of SAAL1 impaired the HGF/Met-driven Akt/mTOR phosphorylation cascade and increased the chemosensitivity of HCC cells to sorafenib and foretinib treatment. Our data indicated that SAAL1 plays an important role in HCC via mediating oncogenic HGF/Met-driven Akt/mTOR signaling and could serve as an independent prognostic marker, as well as a promising therapeutic target for HCC patients.

Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a common chronic disease. Previous studies have shown a link between 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (vitamin D3) concentration and liver disease. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been attributed to the inappropriate functioning of cell-mediated immunity. However, the effects of vitamin D3, immune cell, and HBeAg status on HBV viral load in CHB patients are still unclear. We investigated the relationship between the serum concentration of vitamin D3, percentage of immune cells in peripheral blood, and the HBV viral load of CHB patients. Sixty CHB patients were recruited, and their blood samples were collected and analyzed. Vitamin D level was measured using a chemiluminescence assay. A level of 30 ng/mL or above was defined as a vitamin D3 sufficiency. We assigned vitamin D3 status as either normal (≥30 ng/mL), insufficient (20–30 ng/mL), or deficient (<20 ng/mL). T-lymphocyte and B-lymphocyte surface markers in peripheral blood were detected using flow cytometry. The factors associated with HBV viral load were analyzed using univariate and multivariate-adjusted models. The mean serum vitamin D3 concentration in the subjects was 20.9 ± 5.6 ng/mL. Up to 88.3% of the patients were either deficient in or had insufficient vitamin D3. The gender, BMI, hepatitis B surface antigen levels, and ALT levels were significantly related to serum vitamin D3 levels. Serum vitamin D3 concentration, HBe status, HBs levels, ALT, and AST levels showed a statistically significant correlation with the HBV DNA levels. Serum vitamin D3 concentrations and hepatitis B surface antigen levels were strongly correlated with HBV DNA levels. Vitamin D3 levels were significantly associated with CD19 numbers (β:−6.2, 95% CI: −10.5). In multivariate analysis, vitamin D3 levels in the deficient and insufficient groups, and the CD8, HBeAg, and WBC counts were significantly associated with HBV DNA levels. In the immune tolerance phase of HBeAg-negative chronic HBV infection, vitamin D3 may be a modulator of immune function via CD8, CD19, and HBV DNA.

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious public health issue. Vitamin D is involved in various pathophysiological mechanisms as an immune modulator and the deficiency rate of vitamin D is prevalent in chronic liver disease. Fucoidan exerts anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, antitumor, antimetastatic, and antiangiogenetic effects; however, its effect on the immune responses of HBV patients is unclear. This study investigated how 25(OH)Vitamin D status affected the effectiveness of oligo fucoidan in patients with HBV infection in the immune tolerance phase. Fifty-one patients received oligo fucoidan 4400 mg/day for 48 weeks. Flow cytometry was used to detect T lymphocyte markers (CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+, CD4+CD45RO+, CD8+CD45RO+). The levels of white blood cell (WBC), platelets (PLT), and albumin were decreased after 48 weeks of supplementation (p < 0.05). Percentages of CD3+CD8+ and CD8+CD45RO+ cells were decreased after 12 weeks of supplementation (p < 0.05). In patients with adequate vitamin D, HBV-DNA concentrations decreased and the proportion of CD4+CD45RO+ and CD8+CD45RO+ cells increased upon oligo fucoidan supplementation. The HBeAg status of one vitamin D-adequate patient changed from positive to negative at the 12th week of supplementation. The oligo fucoidan may regulate immune effects in patients with HBV infection, and the 25(OH)Vitamin D status might have affected the effectiveness of oligo fucoidan.