studies

1264A AASLD ABSTRACTS HEPATOLOGY, October, 2015
viduals with NAFLD and HCC were significantly older (63.5
± 9.7 vs. 57.4 ± 10.5 years, P=0.0004) and more frequently
male (67% vs. 38%, P=0.0004). In addition, those with HCC
were more likely to have esophageal varices (57% vs. 40%,
P=0.047) and a trend toward a higher frequency of ascites
(50% vs. 37%, P=0.1). However, the average MELD score was
lower in those with HCC compared to controls (11.3 ± 3.6 vs.
13.3 ± 4.6, P=0.05). Individuals with HCC had a trend toward
a higher prevalence of dyslipidemia (52% vs. 38%, P=0.09)
and cardiovascular disease (28% vs. 16%, P=0.09) and were
more likely to use statins (31% vs. 16%, P=0.04). On multivariate
regression analysis, increasing age (OR 1.09, 95% CI
1.03-1.15, P=0.002), male gender (OR 4.31, 95% CI 1.69-
10.97, P=0.002) and the presence of varices (OR 3.93, 95%
CI 1.43-10.82, P=0.008) were significantly associated with
HCC. Conclusion: Male gender, increasing age, and the presence
of varices are associated with HCC in NAFLD cirrhosis.
Table. Selected characteristics of NAFLD cirrhosis patients with
and without HCC
2167
Disturbance of regulatory T cells, MDSCs and NK cells is
involved in NASH and mouse model of NASH
Tatsuki Morosawa, Yasuteru Kondo, Takayuki Kogure, Jun Inoue,
Yu Nakagome, Osamu Kimura, Yuta Wakui, Tomoaki Iwata,
Yasuyuki Fujisaka, Teruyuki Umetsu, Tooru Shimosegawa; Tohoku
University Hospital, Sendai, Japan
Background and aim: The involvement of lipotoxicity, insulin
resistance, intestinal bacteria, and disturbance of the immune
system has been reported to be involved in the pathogenesis
of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). However, the immunological
dis-regulation in NASH and mouse models of NASH
has not been clarified yet. The aim of this study is to analyze
the immunological responses in NASH patients and mouse
models of NASH. Material and method: Patients: Permission
for the study was obtained from the ethics committee at our
university. We analyzed various kinds of lymphocytes in the
peripheral blood from 35 NASH patients who had been diagnosis
histologically, eight patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver
disease, 35 patients with chronic hepatitis C, 20 patients with
chronic hepatitis B, and 18 healthy subjects. We subjected the
samples to BD FACS Canto flow cytometry and analyzed;
(1) myeloid dendritic cells (mDC)1, mDC2, plasmacytoid DC
(pDC), (2) T cells (regulatory T cells (Tregs), Th1, Th2, Th17),
(3) Natural Killer (NK) cells, NK-T cells, (4) Myeloid-Derived
Suppressor Cells (MDSCs). Further, the expression of PD-1,
PD-L1, NKG2D and CD69 on these immune cells was analyzed
to detect the level of functional activity. In addition, we
separated the immune cells from the liver and spleen tissue of
STAM mice, MCD mice, and C57BL/6 mice (normal diet group
or high-fat diet group) and conducted an analysis of immune
functions. Co-cultivation analysis: HepG2 cells with or without
fatty acid were used for co-cultivation with PBMC to determine
the effect of fatty hepatocytes on various immune cells. Results:
We observed a significant increase of Tregs and MDSCs in the
immune cells of the NASH patients compared with the NAFLD
patients and healthy subjects (p