OBJECTIVETo identify the differential expressions of serum cytokines between prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and provide proteomic evidence for the early diagnosis of PCa.

METHODSWe used human cytokine array to determine the profiles of the serum cytokines obtained from 6 PCa and 6 BPH patients with the PSA level within the grey scale of 4 - 10 ng/ml.

RESULTSWe identified 19 differentially expressed cytokines in the PCa patients, 16 obviously up-regulated, including IL-3, IL-6 and IL-16, and 3 markedly down-regulated, which were Fas/TNFRSF6, TRALR-3 and IGFBP-6. Most of them were involved in such cellular bioprocesses as transcription, proliferation, signal transduction, and apoptosis.

CONCLUSIONThe cytokine antibody assay permits simultaneous measurement of multiple markers in a small volume of serum, and can identify a panel of key cytokines related to the malignant biological behavior of cancer cells. And it helps to find the biomarkers for the early diagnosis, efficacy assessment and prognosis of prostate cancer.

Aged ; Humans ; Interleukin-16 ; blood ; Interleukin-3 ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; blood ; genetics ; metabolism ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; blood ; genetics ; metabolism ; Proteomics

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of cytokine levels on early death and coagulation function of patients with newly diagnosed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). METHODS: Routine examination was performed on 69 newly diagnosed APL patients at admission. Meanwhile, 4 ml fasting venous blood was extracted from the patients. And then the supernatant was taken after centrifugation. The concentrations of cytokines, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and ferritin were detected by using the corresponding kits. RESULTS: It was confirmed that cerebral hemorrhage was a major cause of early death in APL patients. Elevated LDH, decreased platelets (PLT) count and prolonged prothrombin time (PT) were high risk factors for early death (P <0.05). The increases of IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p70 and IL-17A were closely related to the early death of newly diagnosed APL patients, and the increases of IL-5 and IL-17A also induced coagulation disorder in APL patients by prolonging PT (P <0.05). In newly diagnosed APL patients, ferritin and LDH showed a positive effect on the expression of IL-5, IL-10 and IL-17A, especially ferritin had a highly positive correlation with IL-5 (r =0.867) and IL-17A (r =0.841). Moreover, there was a certain correlation between these five high-risk cytokines, among which IL-5 and IL-17A (r =0.827), IL-6 and IL-10 (r =0.823) were highly positively correlated. CONCLUSION Elevated cytokine levels in newly diagnosed APL patients increase the risk of early bleeding and death. In addition to the interaction between cytokines themselves, ferritin and LDH positively affect the expression of cytokines, thus affecting the prognosis of APL patients.
Humans ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute/diagnosis* ; Cytokines/metabolism* ; Interleukin-10 ; Interleukin-17/metabolism* ; Interleukin-6/metabolism* ; Interleukin-5/metabolism* ; Blood Coagulation Disorders ; Ferritins ; Tretinoin

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of Modified Sanhuang Decoction (, MSD) enema on the serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and colonic mucosa interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in experimental ulcerative colitis (UC) rats.

METHODSForty-five male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: normal group (n=12), model group (n=11), salazosulfapyridine (SASP) group (n=11) and MSD group (n=11). The UC model was induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)/ethanol solution. Rats in the normal group and model group were clystered with 0.9% normal saline, while in the SASP group and MSD group were clystered with SASP and MSD enema, respectively. After drug administration (10 mL/kg body weight, for 7 days), colonic gross changes and colonic mucosa histology were observed, serum TNF-α and colonic mucosa IL-1β, IL-6 levels were tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and radioimmunoassay, respectively.

RESULTSAs compared with the normal group, the experimental UC rats, the colonic mucosal damage index scores (CMDIs), histopathological scores (HS) and the serum TNF-α and colonic mucosa IL-1β, IL-6 levels significantly increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01). In the MSD and SASP groups, the ulcer area significantly reduced, and edema disappeared. The CMDIs, HS, the serum TNF-α and colonic mucosa IL-1β, IL-6 levels in the MSD and SASP groups significantly decreased (P<0.05 or P<0.01) compared with the model group. The CMDIs in the MSD group were lower than that in the SASP group (P<0.05), but there were no significant differences in HS, serum TNF-α or colonic mucosa IL-1β, IL-6 levels between the MSD and SASP groups.

CONCLUSIONMSD enema can improve colonic mucosa impairment and decrease serum TNF-α and colonic mucosa IL-1β, IL-6 levels in experimental UC.

Animals ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; metabolism ; therapy ; Colon ; metabolism ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Enema ; Interleukin-1beta ; blood ; metabolism ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; metabolism ; Intestinal Mucosa ; metabolism ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of early escharectomy on resting energy expenditure (REE) in severely burned patients dynamically with the metabolic monitoring and diagnostic system.

METHODSFifty-six adult male patients with severe burns were divided into early escharectomy (group A, n = 39, escharectomy within 5 PBDs) and non-early escharectomy (group B, n = 17, escharectomy after 5 PBDs) groups. The wounds of full thickness and deep partial thickness burn in the two groups were all excised and covered with allogeneic skin and autologous micro-skin in the first operation. The changes in REE were observed dynamically at the bedside of the patients with the metabolic monitoring and diagnostic system. The plasma contents of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha and LPS from 9 patients in group A and 7 in group B were also determined dynamically.

RESULTSAll patients survived. The REE in both groups was elevated markedly, but REE in group A was lower compared with group B before and after escharectomy within 14 days. (P < 0.05). The plasma level of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha and LPS in group A were obviously lower than those in group B (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe hypermetabolic response of burn patients with severe burns could be lowered by early escharectomy, and it seemed to be related to the decrease of the release of proinflammatory mediators.

Adult ; Basal Metabolism ; Burns ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Interleukin-8 ; blood ; Lipopolysaccharides ; blood ; Male ; Postoperative Care ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

BACKGROUNDThere is a paucity of studies investigating the clinical and biochemical characteristics of pain in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. This study aimed to determine the clinical and biochemical characteristics and outcomes in Chinese patients with CHF and symptoms of pain.

METHODSSociodemographics, serum levels of creatinine, NT-proBNP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10, and two-dimensional echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were determined in 305 patients with CHF. A questionnaire packet including the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) was used to assess the degree of pain rated on a 0 - 10 scale and the quality of life (QOL). A six-minute walking test was performed during routine clinic visits. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were recorded; including all-cause or cardiac mortality and rehospitalization because of myocardial infarction, worsening heart failure or stroke at follow-up.

RESULTSPain occurred in 25.6% of CHF patients, and was more common when the New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class was worse. More patients with pain were female in gender, and had more co-morbidities, lower LVEF, and shorter distance during the 6-minute walking test. Despite similar serum levels of creatinine, N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), IL-6 and IL-10, the TNF-α levels were higher and MLHFQ scores were greater in CHF patients with pain. At follow-up, CHF patients with moderate to severe pain (≥ 4 scale) had higher rates of all-cause and cardiac mortality and rehospitalization because of myocardial infarction, worsening heart failure or stroke. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that the presence of pain was an independent risk factor for MACE and reduced QOL in CHF patients.

CONCLUSIONSPain occurs in all stages of the CHF trajectory, and its incidence increases as clinical functional status is worsened. The presence of pain exerts a negative impact on clinical outcome and QOL in patients with CHF.

C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Heart Failure ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Interleukin-10 ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Male ; Pain ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood

To investigate the peripheral levels and clinical significance of Th17/Treg cell-associated cytokines in patients with acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD) or chronic GVHD (cGVHD), blood samples were collected from 39 hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation patients and 20 healthy donors. The patients included 10 patients with aGVHD, 13 patients with cGVHD and 16 patients without evidence of GVHD. Th17/Treg cell-associated cytokines such as IFNγ, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TGF-β(1), IL-17 and IL-23 were detected by ELISA. The results showed that the plasma levels of IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-6, IL-17 and IL-23 significantly increased in patients with aGVHD or cGVHD, compared with the patients without clinical signs of GVHD and the healthy donors (p < 0.05), while IL-10 and TGF-β(1) were obviously lower than that of them (p < 0.05). After aGVHD and cGVHD patients were treated effectively, the plasma levels of IL-6, IL-17 and IL-23 were significantly decreased, and IL-10, TGF-β(1) were significantly increased, while the levels of IFN-γ and IL-4 did not markedly change. The TGF-β(1) level were negatively correlated with IL-6 (r = -0.36, p < 0.05), IL-17 (r = -0.51, p < 0.05) and IL-23 (r = -0.44, p < 0.05) respectively, while there were positive correlations between IL-6 and IL-17 (r = 0.62, p < 0.05), IL-6 and IL-23 (r = 0.71, p < 0.05), IL-17 and IL-23 (r = 0.93, p < 0.05). It is concluded that Th17/Treg cell-associated cytokines may play an important role in the development of a/cGVHD, which helps to find novel targets for developing new strategies of GVHD treatment.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Cytokines ; blood ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; blood ; Humans ; Interleukin-10 ; blood ; Interleukin-17 ; blood ; Interleukin-23 ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Male ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; blood ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDPulmonary hypertension (PH) is a common complication of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although alveolar hypoxia is considered as a main cause of PH in COPD, structural and functional changes of pulmonary circulation are apparent at the initial stage of COPD. We hypothesized that an inflammatory response and oxidative stress might contribute to the formation of PH in COPD.

METHODSWe measured the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and 8-iso-prostaglandin (8-iso-PSG) in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and serum in 40 patients with COPD only or in 45 patients with COPD combined with PH. Pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (PASP) was assessed by Doppler echocardiography and defined as PH when the value of systolic pressure was greater than 40 mmHg.

RESULTSCompared with the COPD only group, the level of IL-6 in EBC was significantly increased in all 45 patients with COPD combined with PH ((8.27±2.14) ng/L vs. (4.95±1.19) ng/L, P < 0.01). The level of IL-6 in serum was also elevated in patients with COPD combined with PH compared with the COPD only group ((72.8±21.6) ng/L vs. (43.58±13.38) ng/L, P < 0.01). Similarly, we also observed a significant increase in the level of 8-iso-PSG in both EBC and serum in the COPD with PH group, compared with the COPD only group (EBC: (9.00±2.49) ng/L vs. (5.96±2.31) ng/L, P < 0.01 and serum: (41.87±9.75) ng/L vs. (27.79±11.09) ng/L, P < 0.01). Additionally, the value of PASP in the PH group was confirmed to be positively correlated with the increase in the levels of IL-6 and 8-iso-PSG in both EBC and serum (r = 0.477-0.589, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe increase in the levels of IL-6 and 8-iso-PSG in EBC and serum correlates with the pathogenesis of PH in COPD.

Aged ; Breath Tests ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; blood ; metabolism ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostaglandins A ; blood ; metabolism ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; blood ; metabolism

OBJECTIVEThis study was conducted to observe dynamically the serum and stool level of IL-2, IL-6 and IFN-alpha with RV enteritis, and to analyse the relation of them and their relation to clinical manifestations.

METHODSThe double-antibody sandwich ELISA technique was applied.

RESULTSThe positive rate of RV in 119 enteritis cases was 63.0% and the peak month was November. These cytokines had different peak phases in the course of disease. The earliest cytokine which had peak phase was IFN-alpha, the last ones were serum and stool IL-2. There was a negative relation between stool IL-2 and IL-6 (P<0.01). There were positive relation between IL-2 and IFN-alpha, stool IL-6 and IFN-alpha, serum IL-2 and IL-6, stool IL-2 and the recovery time of the enteritis (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Serum and stool level of IL-2 and IFN-alpha had positive relation to the number of lymphocyte plus mononuclear cells (P<0.01 or P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSIL-2, IL-6 and IFN-alpha play important roles of immunoregulation in RV enteritis, and have close relation to clinical manifestations.

Enteritis ; blood ; virology ; Feces ; chemistry ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Interferon-gamma ; metabolism ; Interleukin-2 ; metabolism ; Interleukin-6 ; metabolism ; Male ; Rotavirus Infections ; blood

A main symptom of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) in ponies is pathological obesity characterized by abnormal accumulation of fat deposits and inflammation. In this study, we analyzed the expression of two pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), in subcutaneous adipose tissue and the correlation with serum concentrations in peripheral blood of Welsh ponies. Based on clinical examination findings, the animals were divided into two groups: ponies affected with EMS (n = 8) and obese ponies (n = 8). The adipose tissue was examined using immunohistochemical analysis while concentrations IL-6 and TNF-alpha were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Additionally, histological characterization of the adipose tissue was performed. The results obtained showed that IL-6 expression in adipose tissue biopsies derived from animals with EMS was enhanced while TNF-alpha levels of both groups were comparable. Compared to the obese ponies, EMS animals also had significantly elevated levels of serum IL-6 and TNF-alpha. Histological analysis revealed macrophage infiltration and fibrosis in adipose tissue preparations from the EMS group. These data suggest that IL-6 may play a key role in the course of EMS in Welsh ponies. Our findings also demonstrated that analysis of pro-inflammatory cytokines levels in serum may serve as an additional tool for diagnosing EMS.
Adipose Tissue/*metabolism ; Animals ; Female ; Horse Diseases/blood/*metabolism ; Horses ; Interleukin-6/blood/genetics/*metabolism ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome X/metabolism/*veterinary ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/blood/genetics/*metabolism

This study was aimed to investigate the effects of peripheral blood Th17 cells and their secreting IL-17, IL-21 in the occurrence and development of multiple myeloma (MM). A total of 55 patients with MM were divided into non-remission group (group A , n = 30), remission group (group B, n = 25); healthy volunteers were used as control group (group C , n = 30). The concentration of IL-17, IL-21 and IL-6 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMNC) culture supernatant were determined with ELISA. The ratio of Th7 cells in PBMNC was determined by flow cytometry. The results showed that IL-17, IL-21 levels and ratio of Th17 cells in group A were much higher than those in group B and C (P < 0.05), IL-17, IL-21 and the ratio of Th17 cells between group B and group C were not significantly different (P > 0.05); IL-17 level in non-remission MM group positively correlated with IL-6 level (r = 0.782, P < 0.05), IL-21 level in non-remission MM group positively correlated with IL-6 level (r = 0.778, P < 0.05). It is concluded that Th17 cells as a initiating factor may be involved in the immune pathogenesis of MM patients, promoting the progress of the disease.
Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-17 ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Interleukins ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma ; blood ; Th17 Cells ; metabolism