Analysis of Metabolic Regulators PGC1-α and PGC1-β in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma with and without Hyperglycemia

AIM: To assess the expression of PGC1-α and PGC1-β in Oral squamous cell carcinoma in the presence and absence of hyperglycemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fresh tissue samples were collected from 14 well differentiated OSCC patients with hyperglycemia, 14 OSCC patients without hyperglycemia and 14 healthy controls and subjected to quantitative real-time PCR to assess expression of PGC1-α and PGC1-β. The relative gene expression of PGC1-α and PGC1-β was calculated using the double delta Ct method. A two-fold difference was defined as over or under- expression. To further evaluate clinicopathological association, Independent t-test was employed. RESULTS: The expression of both PGC1-α and PGC1-β were increased in OSCC patients when compared to healthy controls and similar findings were observed on calculating the fold change healthy controls and OSCC study groups. On assessing the expression of target genes within study groups, they did not present with significant fold change and the hyperglycemic status of the individual did not contribute to the expression of the target genes as P value obtained for PGC1-α and PGC1-β were >0.05. CONCLUSION: The hyperglycemic status of the individual does not influence the expression of PGC1-α and PGC1-β in OSCC tissues and the cause for over-expression of the study targets in OSCC tissues must be further evaluated to assess their potential as possible candidates for targeted therapy in OSCC patients.