Soluble IL-6 receptors (sIL-6R) in hematological patients receiving immunotherapy with IL-2/IFN-alpha or donor lymphocytes following bone marrow transplantation.
Soluble interleukin-6 receptor (sIL-6R) has previously been shown to potentiate the activity of interleukin-6 (IL-6) which may display antitumor activity. Therefore, we evaluated sIL-6R levels in the sera of 15 patients who received cytokine-mediated immunotherapy with (IL-2/IFN-alpha), and 15 patients who received cell-mediated immunotherapy post-BMT, in an attempt to reduce the relapse rate. sIL-6R levels were evaluated pre-, during and post-cytokine or cell-mediated immunotherapy, using IL-6R-specific monoclonal antibodies (McAb) and double-sandwich ELISA. In normal controls, sIL-6R levels were found to be 20 +/- 3 ng/ml. sIL-6R levels increased significantly during IL-2/IFN-alpha immunotherapy in comparison to pre- or post-immunotherapy levels (74 +/- 9 ng/ml vs 46 +/- 6 ng/ml, and 50 +/- 9 ng/ml, respectively) (n = 15) (P < 0.05). sIL-6R levels also significantly increased following donor lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells, given in addition to IL-2, in comparison to base line levels (87 +/- 3 ng/ml vs 60 +/- 2 ng/ml) (n = 6) (P < 0.05). Increased levels of sIL-6R were observed in BMT patients treated with immunotherapy.
Toren
A
A
Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.
Novick
D
D
Ackerstein
A
A
Or
R
R
Slavin
S
S
Nagler
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015979:Killer Cells, Lymphokine-Activated / Q000637:transplantation; D007938:Leukemia / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D017710:Lymphocyte Transfusion; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018123:Receptors, Interleukin / Q000378:metabolism*; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6; D012995:Solubility; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
D015703:Antigens, CD; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015850:Interleukin-6; D018123:Receptors, Interleukin; D019947:Receptors, Interleukin-6