Abstract: Objective To study the expression of claudin-18,maspin and p53 in tissues of cholangiocarcinoma. Methods The expression of claudin-18,maspin and p53 were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot in 46 cholangiocarcinoma and 32 normal liver tissues. Result The positive rates of claudin-18 and p53 in cancerous tissues were 52.17% and 56.52%,respectively,significantly higher than 0.0% and 0.0% in normal control（P<0.01）;The positive rate of maspin in cancerous tissues was 86.96%,much lower than 100.0% in normal control（P<0.01）;The relative expression levels of claudin-18,maspin and p53 were 2.83±0.52, 2.45±1.24 and 1.73±1.26, respectively,significantly higher than 0.48±0.75,0.46±0.32 and 0.0±0.0 in the control （P<0.05）;The expression of maspin was negatively correlated with p53 expression in cancerous tissues（r=-8.546,P=0.001）. Conclusion The implication of maspin,claudin-18 and p53 expression in cholangiocarcinoma tissues needs further investigation.

Key words: Cholangiocarcinoma, Claudin-18, Maspin, p53, Immunohistochemistry, Western blot