Non-specific increase of serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 in patients with liver disease associated with increased circulating levels of adhesion molecules

Sialyl-Lewis^a antigen (SLe^a), the immune determinant of carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), is the ligand of E-selectin. To verify the possibility of an association between non-specific elevation of CA 19-9 and adhesion molecules, sera from 12 patients with acute hepatitis, 55 with non-cirrhotic chronic liver disease, 33 with cirrhosis and 25 with hepatocellular carcinoma, were tested for common liver function tests. Besides, CA 19-9 and soluble forms of E-selectin, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 were measured immunoenzymatically. One-way analysis of variance demonstrated that mean CA 19-9 concentration differed among groups (F 15.27, P < 0.0001) with the highest values found in patients with acute hepatitis. By univariate analysis, the strongest correlation of CA 19-9 was with soluble ICAM-1, which by stepwise multiple regression analysis was the only independent predictor of elevated CA 19-9 (multiple R 0.560). The association between ICAM-1 and CA 19-9 might originate in the biliary cells where they might be simultaneously overexpressed during inflammatory processes.