en 26140181 <p>Background: High expression of telomerase and Bcl-2 are reported in hepatocellular carcinoma. Some anticancer drugs show their effects through reduction of these factors. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of a new synthetic compound, platinum azidothymidine, on inhibition of telomerase and Bcl-2 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma compared to azidothymidine.<br /> Methods: To study the effects of Pt-AZT on hepatocellular carcinoma and compare its effects with AZT in inhibition of telomerase and Bcl-2 gene expression, pathogen-free male Wistar rats (n=100) were used. They were randomly divided to 4 groups (n=25). Group A as the control group contained 25 healthy rats; in the rest of animals, preneoplastic lesions were induced in their livers (groups B, C, and D) using Solt-Farber resistant hepatocyte protocol. Cancer development was approved by a pathology laboratory. Group B was negative control (untreated), groups C and D were treated by intraperitoneal injection (IP) of Pt-AZT (0.9 <em>mg/kg/day</em>) and AZT (0.3<em> mg/kg/day</em>), respectively for 14 days. At the end of the protocol, all rats were sacrificed and Bcl-2 and telomerase gene expression was determined using real -time PCR.<br /> Results: No tumor in the livers was found in group A at any point of the study, but it was present in livers of all animals in B, C and D groups. Results showed that telomerase and Bcl-2 expression was significantly lower in group C compared with group B (0.473&plusmn;0.231 <em>vs</em>. 5.137&plusmn;5.08, p&lt;0.001, for telomerase expression, and 0.41&plusmn;0.276 <em>vs</em>. 7.25&plusmn;11.6, p&lt;0.001, for Bcl-2 expression) and also compared with group D (0.473&plusmn;0.231 <em>vs</em>. 3.48&plusmn;4.02, p&lt;0.001, for telomerase expression, and 0.41&plusmn;0.276 <em>vs</em>. 4.93&plusmn;18, p&lt;0.001, for Bcl-2 expression).<br /> Conclusion: For the first time, it was demonstrated that Pt-AZT has more inhibitory effect on telomerase and Bcl-2 expression than AZT. It effectively inhibits the growth of liver tumor in rats by extending apoptosis.</p> Gene expression, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Platinum, Telomerase 50 56 https://www.ajmb.org/En/Article.aspx?id=202 https://www.ajmb.org/PDF/En/FullText/202.pdf AbdolrezaSabokrouhDepartment of Clinical Biochemistry, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran793AsadVaisi-RayganiMolecular Diagnostic Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran795Mohammad TaghiGoodarziResearch Center for Molecular Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran794ShohrehKhatamiDepartment of Clinical Biochemistry, Pasteur Institute, Tehran, Iran796MasoudTaghizadeh-JahedReproductive Biotechnology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran797NahidShahabadiDepartment of Chemistry, Razi University of Kermanshah, Kermanshah, Kermanshah, Iran881NiknamLakpourReproductive Biotechnology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran66YadollahShakibaMolecular Diagnostic Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran803