Regulation of hematopoiesis by interleukin-1

Cytokine, infiltrating macrophage and T cell-mediated response to development of primary and secondary human liver cancer

BACKGROUND

Kupffer cells, monocytes and infiltrating T cells have been considered the major source of interleukin-1beta and tumour necrosis factor-alpha in the liver. AIMS; To explore the expression of interleukin-1beta and tumour necrosis factor-alpha and to evaluate the density and the distribution of T lymphocytes and monocytes/macrophages in the liver of patients with primary and secondary tumours.

METHODS

Tumoural and peritumoural liver samples were examined from 21 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, 10 with hepatic metastases, 5 with benign focal liver lesions and 4 healthy adult livers. Interleukin-1beta and tumour necrosis factor-alpha mRNAs were detected by a semiquantitative comparative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. T lymphocytes and monocytes/macrophages were detected by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

Higher levels of interleukin-1beta, tumour necrosis factor-alpha, CD3+ and CD68+ cells were found in the tissue surrounding hepatocellular carcinoma and metastases than in the tumour itself. A strong expression of CD68+ and CD3+ cells was found mainly along the tumour-host interface but the highest expression of CD3+ cells was found at the metastasis interfaces. Interleukin-1beta expression, CD3+ and CD68+ cell densities were higher in peritumoural samples than in so-called "normal" liver tissue.

CONCLUSIONS

An increased production of interleukin-1beta and, to a lesser extent, of tumour necrosis factor-alpha mRNA coincides with the presence of cancer be it primary or secondary, both in healthy and cirrhotic livers. The presence of cancer, irrespective of the presence of underlying liver damage, appears to play the most important role.

The cytokine response to physical activity and training

Cytokines are soluble glycoproteins that are produced by and mediate communication between and within immune and nonimmune cells, organs and organ systems throughout the body. Pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators constitute the inflammatory cytokines, which are modulated by various stimuli, including physical activity, trauma and infection. Physical activity affects local and systemic cytokine production at different levels, often exhibiting striking similarity to the cytokine response to trauma and infection. The present review examines the cytokine response to short term exercise stress, with an emphasis on the balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory mechanisms and modulation of both innate and specific immune parameters through cytokine regulation. The effects of long term exercise on cytokine responses and the possible impact on various facets of the immune system are also discussed, with reference to both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of exercise training. Finally, the validity of using exercise as a model for trauma and sepsis is scruti- nised in the light of physiological changes, symptomatology and outcome, and limitations of the model are addressed. Further studies, examining the effect of exercise, trauma and infection on novel cytokines and cytokine systems are needed to elucidate the significance of cytokine regulation by physical activity and, more importantly, to clarify the health implications of short and long term physical activity with respect to overall immune function and resistance to infection.

Reduction in carboplatin hematopoietic toxicity in tumor bearing mice: comparative mechanisms and effects of interleukin-1 beta and corticosteroids

Increasing clinical evidence suggests that treatment of certain cancers is more effective with high dose chemotherapy compared to standard dose chemotherapy. Efforts at reduction of high dose chemotherapy hematotoxicity have focused on post-chemotherapy administration of hematopoietic growth factors or stem cells. A pretreatment strategy to induce hematopoietic resistance has not been extensively examined experimentally or clinically. Pretreatment with agents can provide an alternative or additional method to reduce high-dose chemotherapy hematotoxicity. We have previously described a murine model in which normal mice were injected with high dose carboplatin (CB, 600 mg/m2, intravenously). Within 7-12 days post-therapy, severe granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia were induced and resulted in a granulocytopenic mortality of 70-80%. Utilizing this model, we observed that pretreatment of mice with interleukin (IL)-1 beta and/or a corticosteroid effectively reduced CB hematotoxicity. In the current studies, we demonstrated that C3H/HeJ mice bearing 0.25-0.5 cm RIF-1 tumors, exhibited a tumor associated decrease in hematopoietic tolerance to CB compared to normal mice. However, IL-1 beta (1 ug/mouse/day for 7 days), cortisone acetate (CA 0.5 mg/mouse/day for 7 days) or both CA and IL-1 beta, decreased CB induced mortality rates (control = 73%, IL-1 beta = 46%, CA = 30%, IL-1 beta + CA = 5%). Pretreatment with IL-1 beta, CA, or both ameliorated CB-induced absolute granulocyte, lymphocyte and platelet count nadirs. Bone marrow granulocyte-macrophage colony forming units (CFU-GM) from mice treated with IL-1 beta demonstrated increased ex-vivo resistance to cisplatin, without altering its sensitivity to high specific activity 3H-thymidine (a measure of cell fraction in S-phase). Bone marrow CFU-GM from mice treated with CA exhibited increased resistance to both cisplatin and to high specific activity 3H-thymidine. Pretreatment with IL-1 beta, CA or both did not alter tumor sensitivity to CB in vivo. These data suggest that IL-1 beta, CA or the combination may be clinically useful in reducing the hematotoxicity of CB.

Endogenous interleukin 1 receptor antagonist during human bone marrow transplantation: increased levels during graft-versus-host disease, during infectious complications, and after immunoglobulin therapy

In order to understand in more detail the role of endogenous interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) during bone marrow transplantation, IL-1ra serum levels of 28 patients undergoing allogeneic (n=25) or autologous (n=3) bone marrow transplantation were measured with a commercially available ELISA. In addition, the impact of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) was evaluated by analyzing IL-1ra serum levels before and 2, 5, and 24 hr after IVIG infusion. IL-1ra measurements revealed a nadir of circulating IL-1ra levels 3-5 days after bone marrow transplantation, with an increase during conditioning and hematological reconstitution. Circulating IL-1ra levels were significantly increased in patients with cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease, CMV reactivation, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), or fever of unknown origin, when compared with time-matched controls without complications. Highest levels were observed in patients with CMV disease (1922+/-388 pg/ml), followed by patients with CMV reactivation (1575+/-435 pg/ml) and GVHD (1178+/-317 pg/ml). The magnitude of IL-1ra increase in GVHD was related to disease severity. Patients with grade III-IV GVHD developed higher IL-1ra levels than did patients with grade I-II GVHD. Lower but still significantly elevated IL-1ra levels were observed during fever of unknown origin (384+/-87 pg/ml). An increase of IL-1ra serum levels followed the administration of IVIG before transplantation and after hematopoietic reconstitution, but not during aplasia, pointing to the important role of hematopoietic cells in the production of IL-1ra. In conclusion, we show that IL-1ra release is related to conditioning regimen, hematopoietic reconstitution, complications of infectious and alloimmune etiology after bone marrow transplantation, and exogenously administered IVIG.

Interleukin-1 signal transduction

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is primarily an inflammatory cytokine, although it is capable of mediating a wide variety of effects on many different cell types. Nearly every known signal transduction pathway has been reported to be activated in response to IL-1. However, the significance of many of these signaling events is unclear, due to the use of different and sometimes unique cell lines in studying IL-1-initiated signal transduction. Complicating matters further is the lack of association in many studies between identified IL-1-induced signals and subsequent biological responses. In this article, we review what is known about IL-1 receptor signaling and, whenever possible, correlate signaling events to biological responses.