title: The clinical significance of cytokines and soluble forms of membrane-derived activation antigens in the serum of patients with Hodgkin's disease.
abstract: In a search for specific serum markers with prognostic impact in Hodgkin's Disease (HD), we evaluated the clinical significance of several cytokines (IL-1 beta, IL-2, IL-3, IL-6, G-CSF, GM-CSF, TNF-alpha) and soluble forms of membrane-derived antigens (sCD4, sCD8, sCD23, sCD25, sCD30) in the serum of patients with untreated HD. Elevations of three groups of serum factors were observed: Firstly, elevations of the hematopoietic cytokines GM-CSF (detected in 39%), IL-6 (57%) and IL-3 (13%), which occurred simultaneously in the majority of the cases; secondly, simultaneous elevations of the inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-1 beta (detected in 7%); and finally, elevations of membrane-derived activation antigens sCD8, sCD25, and sCD30. While the cytokine levels did not correlate with other obvious parameters, the membrane-derived activation antigens sCD8, sCD25 and sCD30 were associated with a poor prognosis. Only sCD30 correlated with disease activity and holds promise for the follow-up of patients in remission. Further investigations of these parameters at the cellular level might help to elucidate the enigmatic biology of HD.
authors.affiliation: Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, Innere I, Universität des Saarlandes, Homburg, Saar, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gause
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keymis
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schobert
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schmits
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Diehl
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pohl
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hasenclever
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfreundschuh
mesh_terms: D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007378:Interleukins / Q000097:blood*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D016207:Cytokines; D007378:Interleukins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor