Expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase and matrix metalloproteinase-9 and their effects on angiogenesis and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 1 Correlation between clinicopathologic parameters and MMP-9, iNOS expression and MVD in HCC

Variables	n (n=32)	MMP-9		P	iNOS		P	MVD	P
		+1 (n=25)	– (n=7)		+ (n=23)	– (n=9)		(mean±SD)
Sex
Male	24	20	4	NS2	17	7	NS	68.50±17.38	NS
Female	8	5	3		6	2		80.64±29.51
Age (yr)
>50	19	17	2	NS	16	3	NS	76.11±18.86	NS
≤50	13	8	5		7	6		64.86±23.35
Size of HCC (cm)
>5.0	21	19	2	0	17	4	NS	74.48±18.16	NS
≤5.0	11	6	5		6	5		62.91±20.63
Tumor capsule
Present integrally	15	9	6	0	8	7	0.05	67.73±25.72	NS
Absent or not integral	17	16	1		15	2		74.88±16.31
HbsAg3
+	21	18	3	NS	16	5	NS	75.48±19.02	NS
–	11	7	4		7	4		64.00±23.96
Cirrhosis
+	19	16	3	NS	15	4	NS	72.79±16.30	NS
–	13	9	4		8	5		64.46±15.95
Ascites
+	6	4	2	NS	3	3	NS	64.83±22.73	NS
–	26	21	5		20	6		73.08±20.99
Serum AFP4 (µg/L)
≤400	13	10	3	NS	11	2	NS	68.84±21.77	NS
>400	19	15	4		12	7		75.46±20.53
Histological grade
G1	17	12	5	NS	11	6	NS	65.94±19.14	NS
G2	9	7	2		6	3		73.56±20.97
G3	6	6	0		6	0		84.33±24.48
TNM stage
I–II	16	9	7	0	9	7	NS	63.81±21.78	0.037
III	16	16	0		14	2		79.25±18.08
Risk of recurrence
High-risk group	18	18	0	0	17	1	0	82.56±17.29	0
Low-risk group	14	7	7		6	8		57.36±17.19

¹Score≥2: positive staining (+);

²NS: not significant;

³HBsAg: hepatitis B surface antigen;

⁴AFP: serum α-fetoprotein.

Table 2 Relationship between MVD and MMP-9, iNOS staining intensity in HCC (mean±SD)

Degree of staining	n	iNOS	n	MMP-9
–	9	49.33±11.24	7	48.57±14.62
+++	11	71.82±15.06b	8	62.50±11.98
+++	12	87.92±16.49b	17	85.24±16.02bd

^bP<0.01 vs degree of staining (–),

^dP<0.01 vs degree of staining (++).

Table 3 Correlation between MMP-9 and iNOS expression in 32 HCC tissues

iNOS	MMP-9		Total	P
	+	–
+	21	2	23
–	4	5	9	0.010
Total	25	7	32