Expression of histone deacetylase 5 in gastric cancer and its relationship with tumor immune microenvironment

Objective To investigate the expression of histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5) in gastric cancer and its relationship with tumor immune microenvironment.

Methods Clinical materials of 120 patients with gastric cancer diagnosed and treated in the hospital from February 2021 to December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Immunohistochemical analysis was used to detect the expression level of HDAC5 in gastric cancer tissues, and the patients were divided into HDAC5 high-expression group and low-expression group. Univariate analysis, Logistic regression analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to explore the related factors affecting HDAC5 expression. The levels of regulatory T cells (Treg), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), procalcitonin (PCT), hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin M (IgM), and immunoglobulin G (IgG) in both groups were detected. Pearson correlation analysis was used to verify the correlation between HDAC5 expression level and tumor immune microenvironment in gastric cancer.

Results Univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences in tumor diameter, Borrmann classification and lymph node metastasis between the two groups (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that tumor diameter, Borrmann classification and lymph node metastasis were independent risk factors affecting HDAC5 expression in gastric cancer (P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the values of area under the curve (AUC) for tumor diameter, Borrmann classification and lymph node metastasis were 0.608, 0.593 and 0.614, respectively. Pearson correlation analysis showed that HDAC5 expression level in gastric cancer patients was positively correlated with Treg content and inflammatory mediator indexes (P < 0.05), and negatively correlated with IgA, IgM and IgG (P < 0.05).

Conclusion In patients with gastric cancer, the expression level of HDAC5 is related to tumor diameter, Borrmann classification and lymph node metastasis. High-level HDAC5 can directly affect the tumor immune microenvironment of gastric cancer.