Abstract: Objective The purpose of this study was to explore clinical implications of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA and serum angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) and intercellular adhesion molecuLe-1 (ICAM-1) levels in patients with liver failure (LF). Methods 74 patients with LF, including subacute liver failure (SALF) in 13 cases, acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) in 39 cases and chronic liver failure (CLF) in 22 cases, were admitted to our hospital between January 2019 and May 2021, and 30 healthy individuals who had physical examination in our hospital during the same period were selected as the control group. The PBMC hTERT mRNA was assayed by PCR, and serum Ang-2 and ICAM-1 levels were detected by ELISA. Results The PBMC hTERT mRNA, serum Ang-2 and ICAM-1 levels in patients with LF were (0.9±0.3), (1344.6±55.3)ng/L and (540.2±22.4)ng/ml, significantly higher than [(0.4±0.1), (1062.5±36.2)ng/L and (167.3±15.6)ng/ml, respectively, P<0.05] in the healthy control; the PBMC hTERT mRNA, serum Ang-2 and ICAM-1 levels in patients with SALF were (1.5±0.6), (1507.8±38.2)ng/L and (647.3±26.2)ng/ml, all significantly higher than [(1.2±0.4), (1398.6±35.8)ng/L and (582.7±24.1)ng/ml, respectively, P<0.05] in patients with ACLF or [(0.7±0.2), (1280.5±46.3)ng/L and (468.9±20.3)ng/m, respectively, P<0.05] in patients with CLF; at the end of one to three month treatment, three patients with SALF, five patients with ACLF and four patients with CLF died in our series. Conclusion The PBMC hTERT mRNA as well as serum Ang-2 and ICAM-1 levels in patients with LF increase, which might be helpful in judging the severity of the entity and warrants further clinical investigation.

Key words: Liver failure, Human telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells, Angiopoietin-2, Intercellular adhesion molecule-1