Expression and clinical significance of CD38 and multiple myeloma oncogene 1 in autoimmune hepatitis

Objective To investigate the expression of the leukocyte differentiation antigen CD38 and multiple myeloma oncogene 1 ( MUM-1) in liver biopsy tissue of patients with autoimmune hepatitis ( AIH) , as well as their roles in the development and progression of AIH. Methods Liver biopsy tissue samples from 46 AIH patients who were admitted to Department of Pathology in Wuxi Fifth People's Hospital from January 2017 to December 2018 were selected as experimental group, and normal liver tissue samples from 30 patients with gallbladder carcinoma who underwent radical treatment were selected as control group. Immunohistochemistry was used to measure the expression of CD38 and MUM-1, and an analysis was performed with reference to patients' clinical and pathological features. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups, the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups, and a Spearman correlation analysis was also performed. Results The experimental group had significantly higher expression of CD38 and MUM-1 than the control group ( Z =-7. 181 and-7. 484, both P < 0. 001) . The AIH patients with inflammatory activity grade ≥3 and fibrosis stage 4 had significant increases in the expression of CD38 and MUM-1, with significantly higher expression than those with inflammatory activity grade < 3 and fibrosis stage < 4 ( χ2= 10. 085, 15. 769, 14. 988, and26. 966, all P < 0. 05) . The expression of CD38 and MUM-1 was positively correlated with chronic inflammatory activity grade and fibrosis stage ( r = 0. 552, 0. 876, 0. 603, and 0. 934, all P < 0. 001) , and CD38 was also positively correlated with MUM-1 ( r = 0. 932, P <0. 001) . Conclusion CD38 and MUM-1 are involved in the inflammatory activity of AIH and the process of fibrosis formation. There is a synergistic effect between them, which affects the process of liver cirrhosis. Therefore, they may become potential targets for diagnosis and treatment in future.