Microbiota Composition, HSP70 and Caspase-3 Expression as Marker for Colorectal Cancer Patients in Aceh, Indonesia

AIM: to investigate the relationship between microbiota composition with HSP70 and Caspase-3 expressions in colon tissue as an initial study to develop the candidate for early detection of colorectal cancer for Indonesian patients.

METHODS: this is a cross-sectional study on 32 patients undergoing colonoscopy; 16 patients of colorectal cancer (CRC) while the other 16 patients are not (colitis and internal hemorrhoid). The composition of microbiota in stool samples was examined using 16S rRNA Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DDGE) while expression of HSP70 was examined by immunohistochemistry and Caspase-3 by using Haematoxylin-Eosin(HE) staining to determine the morphological changes in colon tissue.

RESULTS: analysis of PCR-DDGE shows a different composition of microbiota between patients with CRC and non-CRC. All CRC patients showed disappearance of dominant band from Bifidobacterium groups. Histological observation based on Inter Class Correlation (ICC) test from all slide showed a high scores (5.2-9.2) in CRC patients and low scores (1.7-2.4) in non-CRC patients. HSP70 expression was increased significantly in CRC patients with the highest percentage of 84%, while expression of caspase-3 decreased with the highest percentage of 21%. Statistical analysis showed that the incidence of colorectal cancer was associated with the expression of HSP 70 (p<0.001), and Caspase 3 (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION: bifidobacterium is an important indicator for colorectal cancer patients that show disappearance of dominant band, while expression of HSP70 increased and the Caspase-3 expression decreased significantly.