title: Serum TNF-alpha, gamma-INF, G-CSF and GM-CSF levels in neutropenic children with acute leukemia treated with short-course, high-dose methylprednisolone.
abstract: High-dose methylprednisolone (HDMP, 20-30 mg/kg/day po) treatment has been shown to increase the number of bone marrow and peripheral blood CD34 positive progenitors and serum granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) levels in patients with ALL and AML. To investigate the effect of HDMP on some other hematopoietic regulatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), gamma-interferon (gamma-INF), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were studied by microplate ELISA technique in 15 chemotherapy-induced neutropenic episodes of 14 children with acute leukemia (eight with ALL and six with AML) in whom HDMP was given alone (30 mg/kg/day po) for 4 days. The absolute neutrophil counts increased significantly in all neutropenic episodes on the fourth day of HDMP treatment. The TNF-alpha was 93.5 +/- 161 pg/ml in ALL and 78.3 +/- 61.4 pg/ml in AML before treatment and 76.1 +/- 160 pg/ml in ALL and 19.1 +/- 39.8 pg/ml in AML after treatment. The gamma-INF was 204.1 +/- 210.3 pg/ml in ALL and 130.8 +/- 138.3 pg/ml in AML before treatment and 28.6 +/- 50.5 pg/ml in ALL and 23.3 +/- 20.4 pg/ml in AML after treatment (P<0.05). Serum G-CSF and GM-CSF levels increased in all episodes (100%). The GM-CSF levels increased from 12.2 +/- 10.9 pg/ml to 36 +/- 24.7 pg/ml after treatment in ALL (P<0.05) and from 13.3 +/- 4 pg/ml to 45 +/- 48.1 pg/ml in AML (P<0.05). Serum G-CSF levels increased from 13.3 +/- 11.7 pg/ml to 83.3 +/- 86.8 pg/ml after treatment in ALL (P<0.05) and from 6.6 +/- 12.1 pg/ml to 28.3 +/- 11.3 pg/ml in AML (P<0.05). However, IL-6 levels were undetectable in all patients before and after therapy. These preliminary data suggest that short-course HDMP treatment could decrease serum TNF-alpha and gamma-INF and increase G-CSF and GM-CSF levels.
authors.affiliation: Hacettepe University, Ihsan Doğramaci Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatric Hematology, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Tuncer
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hiçsönmez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gümrük
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sayli
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Güler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cetin
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okur
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000097:blood* / Q000139:chemically induced; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016179:Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor; D008775:Methylprednisolone