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Elebo N, Abdel-Shafy EA, Omoshoro-Jones JAO, Nsingwane Z, Hussein AAA, Smith M, Candy G, Cacciatore S, Fru P, Nweke EE. Comparative immune profiling of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression among South African patients. BMC Cancer 2024; 24:809. [PMID: 38973003 PMCID: PMC11229237 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-024-12595-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an aggressive cancer characterized by an immunosuppressive microenvironment. Patients from specific ethnicities and population groups have poorer prognoses than others. Therefore, a better understanding of the immune landscape in such groups is necessary for disease elucidation, predicting patient outcomes and therapeutic targeting. This study investigated the expression of circulating key immune cell markers in South African PDAC patients of African ancestry. METHODS Blood samples were obtained from a total of 6 healthy volunteers (HC), 6 Chronic Pancreatitis (CP) and 34 PDAC patients consisting of 22 resectable (RPC), 8 locally advanced (LAPC) and 4 metastatic (MPC). Real-time Quantitative Polymerase Chain reactions (RT-qPCR), Metabolomics, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), and Immunophenotyping assays were conducted. Statistical analysis was conducted in R (v 4.3.2). Additional analysis of single-cell RNA data from 20 patients (16 PDAC and 4 controls) was conducted to interrogate the distribution of T-cell and Natural Killer cell populations. RESULTS Granulocyte and neutrophil levels were significantly elevated while lymphocytes decreased with PDAC severity. The total percentages of CD3 T-cell subpopulations (helper and double negative T-cells) decreased when compared to HC. Although both NK (p = 0.014) and NKT (p < 0.001) cell levels increased as the disease progressed, their subsets: NK CD56dimCD16- (p = 0.024) and NKTs CD56+ (p = 0.008) cell levels reduced significantly. Of note is the negative association of NK CD56dimCD16- (p < 0.001) cell levels with survival time. The gene expression analyses showed no statistically significant correlation when comparing the PDAC groups with the controls. The inflammatory status of PDAC was assessed by ROS levels of serum which were elevated in CP (p = 0.025), (RPC (p = 0.003) and LAPC (p = 0.008)) while no significant change was observed in MPC, compared to the HC group. ROS was shown to be positively correlated with GlycA (R = 0.45, p = 0.0096). Single-cell analyses showed a significant difference in the ratio of NKT cells per total cell counts in LAPC (p < 0.001) and MPC (p < 0.001) groups compared with HC, confirming observations in our sample group. CONCLUSION The expression of these immune cell markers observed in this pilot study provides insight into their potential roles in tumour progression in the patient group and suggests their potential utility in the development of immunotherapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nnenna Elebo
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
- Bioinformatics Unit, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa
| | - Ebtesam A Abdel-Shafy
- Bioinformatics Unit, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa
- National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Jones A O Omoshoro-Jones
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
- Hepatopancreatobiliary Unit, Department of Surgery, Chris Hani-Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Zanele Nsingwane
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
| | - Ahmed A A Hussein
- Bioinformatics Unit, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa
- Theodore Bilharz Research Institute, Giza, Egypt
| | - Martin Smith
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
- Hepatopancreatobiliary Unit, Department of Surgery, Chris Hani-Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Geoffrey Candy
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
| | - Stefano Cacciatore
- Bioinformatics Unit, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa
| | - Pascaline Fru
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa
| | - Ekene Emmanuel Nweke
- Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa.
- Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Florida, Roodepoort, South Africa.
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Liu S, Szatmary P, Lin JW, Wang Q, Sutton R, Chen L, Liu T, Huang W, Xia Q. Circulating monocytes in acute pancreatitis. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1062849. [PMID: 36578487 PMCID: PMC9791207 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1062849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Acute pancreatitis is a common gastrointestinal disease characterized by inflammation of the exocrine pancreas and manifesting itself through acute onset of abdominal pain. It is frequently associated with organ failure, pancreatic necrosis, and death. Mounting evidence describes monocytes - phagocytic, antigen presenting, and regulatory cells of the innate immune system - as key contributors and regulators of the inflammatory response and subsequent organ failure in acute pancreatitis. This review highlights the recent advances of dynamic change of numbers, phenotypes, and functions of circulating monocytes as well as their underling regulatory mechanisms with a special focus on the role of lipid modulation during acute pancreatitis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiyu Liu
- West China Centre of Excellence for Pancreatitis, Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, West China-Liverpool Biomedical Research Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Peter Szatmary
- Liverpool Pancreatitis Research Group, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Jing-wen Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University and Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, Chengdu, China
| | - Qiqi Wang
- West China Centre of Excellence for Pancreatitis, Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, West China-Liverpool Biomedical Research Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Robert Sutton
- Liverpool Pancreatitis Research Group, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Lu Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University and Collaborative Innovation Center for Biotherapy, Chengdu, China
| | - Tingting Liu
- West China Centre of Excellence for Pancreatitis, Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, West China-Liverpool Biomedical Research Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China,*Correspondence: Tingting Liu, ; Wei Huang, ; Qing Xia,
| | - Wei Huang
- West China Centre of Excellence for Pancreatitis, Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, West China-Liverpool Biomedical Research Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China,Institutes for Systems Genetics & Immunology and Inflammation, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China,*Correspondence: Tingting Liu, ; Wei Huang, ; Qing Xia,
| | - Qing Xia
- West China Centre of Excellence for Pancreatitis, Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, West China-Liverpool Biomedical Research Centre, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China,*Correspondence: Tingting Liu, ; Wei Huang, ; Qing Xia,
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