摘要：Background . Evidences indicate an involvement of apoptosis related genes in gastric carcinogenesis. We studied the gene and protein expression patterns of bcl-2, bax and bcl-X in samples of gastric adenocarcinoma. The apoptotic index values, histological type, differentiation grade, cancer stage and lymph node status were statistically analysed for possible correlations with expressional data. Methods . Thirty specimens of gastric cancer and respective normal control gastric mucosa were collected from patients with the diagnosis of gastric adenocarcinoma who underwent a curative gastrectomy. bcl-2, bax and bcl-XL mRNA and protein levels were respectively determined by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and western blot using monoclonal antibodies for immunodetection. Results and conclusions .We observed a significant suppression of bax with an increase of bcl-XL at protein and mRNA levels. The presence of lymph node metastases was statistically related to the loss of bax overexpression. Bcl-XL was mostly up-regulated in intestinal/mixed types of gastric carcinoma. The expression patterns described confirm the role for these apoptosis genes in gastric adenocarcinoma.
