Pro-(IL-18) and Anti-(IL-10) Inflammatory Promoter Genetic Variants (Intrinsic Factors) with Tobacco Exposure (Extrinsic Factors) May Influence Susceptibility and Severity of Prostate Carcinoma: A Prospective Study

Occupational and Environmental Exposure Influences the Inflammatory (Pro-and Anti-) Status in Benign Prostate Hyperplasia and Prostate Carcinoma Patients: A Retrospective Analysis

Multiple diseases and disorders are connected with occupational and environmental exposure risk. It is also well-established that chemicals and chemical mixtures have an influence on the immune cells of humans. This is an important field of research that has been pursued extensively in relation to autoimmune illnesses, allergy/asthma, and lung cancer, but Prostate Carcinoma has received rare reports. Chronic chemical exposure is known to produce inflammation, which is one of the most prominent characteristics of all malignancies. Changes in the ratio of pro-inflammatory to anti-inflammatory molecules are thought to be a key factor in the emergence of inflammation. Prostate gland cells express the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-18 (IL-18), which is a major facilitator of immunological responses. Conversely, interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an anti-inflammatory cytokine that is linked to immune responses and inhibits the development of an inflammatory environment. Our goal is to investigate the inflammatory status of IL-18 (pro-) and IL-10 (anti-) in a variety of occupationally exposed populations in patients with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) and patients with Prostate Carcinoma. The present study was conducted with 664 subjects, comprising 285 Prostate Carcinoma patients, 94 BPH patients and 285 controls. The subjects of BPH and Prostate Carcinoma were screened and confirmed on the basis of Prostate Serum Antigen (PSA) and pathological biopsy. All subjects were categorized as per their occupational exposure into various groups. The pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory Interleukins (IL-18 and IL-10) and serum PSA levels were analysed by using corresponding quantitative ELISA kits. The results showed that as compared to control participants, the serum PSA levels were higher in the Prostate Carcinoma and BPH groups. When mean levels of IL-18 were compared between various occupational groups, Tanners (tanning industry), Agriculture, and Ordnance workers had significantly higher levels (P < 0.05) of IL-18 than sedentary workers. The pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-18) levels were also found to be aggravated in Prostate Carcinoma compared to BPH and controls. According to the findings of the current study, the levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-18 and IL-10) in various occupational groups of BPH, Prostate Carcinoma, and controls were altered. Long-term occupational exposure may have a negative influence on inflammation levels and the immune system; therefore, preventative measures should be explored for improved health.

Novel Stem Cells and Nucleic Acid-Based Vaccine Trials Against Viral Outbreak: A Systematic Evaluation During COVID-2019 Pandemic

The current Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak, the cause of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has influenced health globally. So far, there are no established management options and prophylaxis for those who have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, and those who develop COVID-19. Documented scientific evidences in similar viral outbreaks in past suggested few therapy regimens. These rather have not shown promising results in management of current pandemic. So, in the current review, we are exploring novel treatment strategies and therapies that are being explored and are in clinical and preclinical stages of research. To explore more about the same, we directed our search towards stem cell based, DNA based, or RNA based vaccines against COVID-19 under development by various universities, institutes or pharmaceutical companies. The current scientific literature and database search were performed by exploring various Trials registry (NIH: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ and https://www.coronavirus.gov) and Chinese clinical trial registry http://www.chictr.org.cn/) and for preclinical trials various University, Institutions, Pharmaceutical companies websites and news bulletins along with google search were checked routinely from 3rd March 2020 to 16 May 2020. The term "Stem Cell therapy and COVID-19", "Mesenchymal stem cell and corona 2019 virus", "DNA Vaccines and COVID-19, RNA Vaccines and COVID-19" and "Cell-based therapy with SARS-CoV-2, University/Institutions and COVID-19 research" were used. The vaccine trials (Stem Cells/DNA/RNA) which were cancelled were not included in this review. Similarly, few others like repurposing of drugs, Nano Vaccines, other miscellaneous trials of Herbs, Music therapy etc., were also excluded. In the present review, we have included the various novel therapies like stem cell therapy, DNA or RNA vaccines which are under development and if proven successful may have a lasting impact on the health industry.

Effect of Severity of Opiate Use on Cardiometabolic Profile of Chronic Opiate Dependents of Western Rajasthan

Lack of cardiometabolic profile data based on severity of opiate dependence for opiate abusers. The study aimed to evaluate the effect severity of opiate abuse on the cardiometabolic profile of male opiate abusers without co-morbidities. The study included 30 healthy controls (HCs), 90 prospective chronic opiate (opium and heroin) abusers, with and without co-dependence of smoking and tobacco-chewing. The subjects were categorized based on severity of opiate dependence questionnaire (SODQ) and metabolic syndrome (MS) based on NCEP ATP-III criteria and fasting blood samples analyzed for sugar, insulin, insulin resistance (IR), lipid profile, Hs-CRP and total antioxidant capacity (TAC). There was higher prevalence of MS in opiate abusers as compared to HCs. Majority of the patients fell in grade 2 and 3 of severity. There was significant difference across groups for WHR (p < 0.001), SBP (p < 0.03), FBS (p < 0.001), insulin (p < 0.02), IR (p < 0.03) and TAC (p < 0.01). Multiple regression analysis of SODQ grades 2 and 3 independently predicted TAC by Hs-CRP (p = 0.032 and 0.042). There was a significant correlation of TAC with serum insulin, IR and Hs-CRP in SODQ grade 2 and serum insulin and Hs-CRP in SODQ grade 3. Chronic opiate abuse is not benign and predisposes abusers to cardiometabolic risk with increasing severity of dependence, owing to oxidative stress and chronic low-grade inflammation.

Association between IL-18 -607 C/A Polymorphism and the Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of Case-Control Studies

Background: Accumulating evidence shows that cytokines play an important role in the proliferation of prostate cancer. This research is trying to determine that IL-18 -607 C/A polymorphism confers susceptibility to prostate cancer. Methods: Meta-analysis was used to collect data. The relevant studies were identified through a comprehensive search from PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Web of Science, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM) to obtain related studies published up to December 6, 2017. The association between interleukin (IL)-18 -607 C/A polymorphism and prostate cancer risk was assessed by odds ratios (ORs) together with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Nine case-control studies from 6 articles were eventually identified. In the overall population, there is a significant association between IL-18 -607 C/A polymorphism and prostate cancer risk in recessive (CC versus CA/AA: OR = 0.20, 95% CI = 0.15-0.27, P = 0.000) or dominant (CC/CA versus AA:OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.30–0.57, P = 0.000) models. In the sub-group analysis according to ethnicity, for Asians, IL-18 -607 C/A polymorphism was significantly associated with prostate cancer in allele contrast (C versus. A: OR=0.82, 95%CI=0.70-0.97, P=0.019), homozygote (CC versus. AA: OR=0.68, 95%CI=0.50-0.92, P=0.013), recessive (CC versus. CA/AA: OR=0.19, 95%CI=0.13-0.27, P=0.000), and dominant (CC/CA versus. AA: OR=0.37, 95%CI=0.28-0.48, P=0.000) models, for Caucasians, IL-18 -607 C/A polymorphism was significantly associated with prostate cancer risk in allele contrast (C versus. A: OR=1.27, 95%CI=1.02-1.58, P=0.033), homozygote (CC versus. AA: OR=1.86, 95%CI=1.19-2.91, P=0.007) and recessive (CC versus. CA/AA: OR=0.25, 95%CI=0.19-0.33, P=0.000) models. Conclusion: This meta-analysis has shown that IL-18 -607 C/A polymorphism contributes to a decreased risk of prostate cancer risk in the Asian population but an increased risk in the Caucasian population.

The impact of interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene 4 polymorphisms on peripheral blood IL-10 variation and prostate cancer risk based on published studies

This study purported to investigate the impact of interleukin-10 (IL-10) gene 4 polymorphisms (−1082G>A, -819T>C, -592A>C and 210T>C) on peripheral blood IL-10 variation and prostate cancer (PCa) risk, with a special consideration given to various origins of between-study heterogeneity. 2 researchers independently fulfilled literature retrieval, quality assessment and information collection. Sub-grouped analyses per ethnicity, continent, design type, control source, genotyping procedure, genotype validation, age-matched status, study sample size, quality score and controls’ mean age were conducted, respectively. Total 17 unduplicated studies (patients/controls: 7561/8101) were assessable for PCa risk, and 4 unduplicated studies (1189 subjects) for peripheral blood IL-10 variation. Pooling all assessable studies identified a marginally significant association between the -1082A allele and increased PCa risk (odds ratio (OR)=1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00 to 1.21) (Heterogeneity I²=64.3%), and no significance was detected in sub-grouped analyses of this polymorphism. Contrastingly, the -592C allele was significantly associated with reduced PCa risk in both prospective (OR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.77 to 0.95) and population-based (OR=0.92, 95% CI: 0.84 to 1.00) studies (Heterogeneity I²=0.0% and 18.1%). Moreover, carriers of combined -592CA/CC genotypes had a significant higher level of peripheral blood IL-10 than the -592AA genotype carriers (weighted mean difference=0.45 and 0.54 mg/dL, 95% CI: 0.23 to 0.67 and 0.30 to 0.39). The above comparisons possessed a low probability of publication bias. In sum, our findings suggested that IL-10 gene -592A>C polymorphism may represent a promising candidate locus for the occurrence of PCa, and further signified a contributing role of this polymorphism in prostate carcinogenesis.

Diseases and Molecular Diagnostics: A Step Closer to Precision Medicine

The current advent of molecular technologies together with a multidisciplinary interplay of several fields led to the development of genomics, which concentrates on the detection of pathogenic events at the genome level. The structural and functional genomics approaches have now pinpointed the technical challenge in the exploration of disease-related genes and the recognition of their structural alterations or elucidation of gene function. Various promising technologies and diagnostic applications of structural genomics are currently preparing a large database of disease-genes, genetic alterations etc., by mutation scanning and DNA chip technology. Further the functional genomics also exploring the expression genetics (hybridization-, PCR- and sequence-based technologies), two-hybrid technology, next generation sequencing with Bioinformatics and computational biology. Advances in microarray “chip” technology as microarrays have allowed the parallel analysis of gene expression patterns of thousands of genes simultaneously. Sequence information collected from the genomes of many individuals is leading to the rapid discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs. Further advances of genetic engineering have also revolutionized immunoassay biotechnology via engineering of antibody-encoding genes and the phage display technology. The Biotechnology plays an important role in the development of diagnostic assays in response to an outbreak or critical disease response need. However, there is also need to pinpoint various obstacles and issues related to the commercialization and widespread dispersal of genetic knowledge derived from the exploitation of the biotechnology industry and the development and marketing of diagnostic services. Implementation of genetic criteria for patient selection and individual assessment of the risks and benefits of treatment emerges as a major challenge to the pharmaceutical industry. Thus this field is revolutionizing current era and further it may open new vistas in the field of disease management.

Functional genetic variability at promoters of pro-(IL-18) and anti-(IL-10) inflammatory affects their mRNA expression and survival in prostate carcinoma patients: Five year follow-up study

BACKGROUND

Inflammation is an important hallmark of all cancers. The net inflammatory response is determined by a delicate balance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, which, in turn, is determined by the genetic make-up. The present study investigates the role of variations in the promoter regions of IL-18 and IL-10 (anti-inflammatory) cytokines on mRNA expressions and survival in prostate cancer (PCa) patients.

METHODS

The study was conducted on 584 volunteer males (291 patients of PCa, between 40-80 years of age. Genetic variants were studied by using RFLP and confirmed by probe based method. Expressions of mRNA were evaluated by real-time PCR (Roche light cycler 480). Relative mRNA and fold change gene expressions were analyzed by ([1/2] (ΔCt) ) and (2(-ΔΔCt) ) methods, respectively, and 5 year follow-ups were evaluated by Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test with Log-rank test for trends.

RESULTS

IL-18 mRNA expression was significantly elevated in GG genotypes (at -137) of PCa with relative mRNA expression of 13.95, that is, 8.48 folds higher (P < 0.05) than controls; and showed a significant median survival of 1243 days. The CC genotypes of IL-10 at both loci (-819 T/C and -592C/A) showed 3.63 and 3.52 higher relative mRNA expressions than controls, but poor survival of 984 and 1052 days than TT of 1359 days and AA of 1371 days.

CONCLUSIONS

Genetic variants of pro-inflammatory IL-18 which showed higher relative mRNA expressions have better survival. Genetic variants of anti-inflammatory IL-10 with higher relative mRNA expression showed decreased chances of survival.