Autologous serum deprivation restored IL-1 receptor antagonist production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in patients with gastric cancer

Alteration in Serum Levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha is associated with Histopathologic Progression of Gastric Cancer

Background

The role of inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis-α (TNF-α) and IL-8, in gastric carcinogenesis has been investigated, but their impact remains to be further elucidated.

Methods

In this study, we measured the serum concentrations of these cytokines and H. pylori serostatus in dyspeptic patients, presenting with normal mucosa (NM = 53), chronic gastritis (CG = 94), and gastric cancer (GC = 82), by ELISA.

Results

Moderate levels of TNF-α were detected in the NM group (19.9 ± 19.5 pg/ml), which were nearly doubled in patients with CG (35.7 ± 28.0 pg/ml) and drastically declined in GC patients (1.8 ± 5.9 pg/ml). The serum levels of IL-8, however, were not statistically different amongst these three groups.

Conclusion

TNF-α serum concentration seemed to undergo up- and downregulation, when moving from NM to CG and from CG to GC, respectively. If confirmed in a prospective study, this cytokine can behave as a serum indicator of gastric inflammation and malignant transformation.

Decreased interleukin-1 receptor antagonist response following moderate exercise in patients with colorectal carcinoma after primary treatment

Clinical and experimental studies have shown that a moderately increased physical activity level may have beneficial effects in terms of exercise conditioning, resistance to infection and decreased relative risk of cancer. Modulation of the innate and adaptive components of the immune system with a shift of cytokines and their antagonists to a more pro- and less anti-inflammatory response was found to be a prominent feature in non-tumor patients and healthy volunteers. As quantitative data concerning the cytokine/antagonist response following exercise are not available for tumor patients, we compared the effects of a post-operative rehabilitation program with moderate exercise (ME) intensity (0.55-0.65 x maximal aerobic power) with a program with low exercise (LE) intensity (0.30-0.40 x maximal aerobic power) in patients with curatively treated colorectal carcinoma (UICC II and III) measuring pro- (IL-1beta, IL-6, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)) and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 receptor antagonist, sTNF receptors I and II). Twenty-three patients participated in this prospective trial, N = 13 in the ME group, N = 10 in the LE group. Exercise was performed daily 30-40 min for 2 weeks. Basal (circulating) and LPS-stimulated (phasic) cytokine and antagonist response was determined before exercise and after 1 and 2 weeks using appropriate ELISA tests. The LPS-stimulated interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) response in the ME group gradually decreased from 31,532.6 (160.0-70,028.0) to 18,033.0 pg/ml (5040.0-52,570.0) after one and to 22,892.0 pg/ml (6376.0-34,726.0) after 2 weeks (P < 0.05) with a concomitant decrease of the corresponding IL-1ra/IL-6 and IL-1ra/IL-1beta ratio: 2.51-1.41 and 4.1-3.1, respectively. In contrast, in the LE group LPS-stimulated cytokines and antagonists did not significantly change during exercise. Circulating cytokines and antagonists remained unchanged in both groups. In providing quantitative data in patients with curatively-treated colorectal cancer, we demonstrated that a short-term rehabilitation program with moderate exercise leads to a decreased LPS-induced antagonist response with a shift to a more pro-inflammatory state (decreased antagonist/cytokine ratio). Whether this change of the phasic immune response to moderate exercise may be clinically beneficial (decreased rates of infection, relapses and/or second tumours) is possible, but has to be investigated in long-term studies.

Analysis of Ig/Ig two-component-determined circulating immune complexes (TCIC) provide new insights into host immunity

There have been many reports on circulating immune complexes (CIC), but information regarding Ig/Ig two-component-determined circulating immune complexes (TCIC) is not available. In the present study, we measured the levels of heterogeneous Ig/Ig two-component-determined circulating immune complexes (Ig/Ig-TCIC) in healthy individuals and patients with hepatitis A, Graves' disease and gastric cancer. The heterogeneous Ig/Ig-TCIC was dissected into IgM/IgG-TCIC, IgG/IgA-TCIC and IgA/IgM-TCIC by use of coating and detecting antibodies. The current study has been carried out in 383 cases of healthy individuals, 97 cases of hepatitis A, 108 cases of Graves' disease and 126 cases of gastric cancer. We found that changes on the levels of IgM/IgG-TCIC and IgG/IgA-TCIC is a common feature in patients studied in this study. A total of 71.4% and 80% of patients with gastric cancer had decreased IgM/IgG-TCIC and IgG/IgA-TCIC, respectively. In addition, elevated frequencies were found in patients with hepatitis A and Graves' diseases for IgM/IgG-TCIC (51.5% and 38.0%, respectively) and IgG/IgA-TCIC (29.9% and 19.4%, respectively). In summary, our results suggest that Ig/Ig-TCIC may be a hallmark for evaluation of host immunity. Decreased frequency in gastric cancer and increased frequencies in hepatitis A and Graves' disease forms a peculiar trait for detection of IgM/IgG-TCIC and IgG/IgA-TCIC. Our findings have, thus, provided new insights into circulating immune complexes.