title: The elevated serum interleukin-6 correlates with the increased serum butyrate level in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: We investigated the clinical significance and regulation of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Serum IL-6 levels of 314 NPC patients and 202 healthy individuals were determined. Of the NPC patients, 69.1% (217/314) showed higher IL-6 levels than that of normal average (2.76+/-2.06 pg/ml). Elevation of IL-6 correlated with the advanced disease and the adverse prognosis of NPC patients. By employing in situ hybridization technique, IL-6 mRNA was detected in the tumor cells of NPC patients with high serum IL-6 levels. Concurrently, serum levels of butyrate were determined in 147 NPC patients and 52 healthy individuals by gas chromatography. Patients with elevated serum butyrate concentrations (4.2+/-2.2 micro M) also had significantly higher IL-6 levels (29.14+/-5.17 pg/ml). No detectable serum butyrate was measured in the healthy individuals. In order to investigate the direct relationship between butyrate and IL-6, n-sodium butyrate (n-BT) was added to the NPC cells in an in vitro study, and marked increase of IL-6 expression was detected in n-BT-treated cells. Our results suggested that tumor cells could be an important source of elevated serum IL-6 in patients with NPC and that IL-6 level in NPC patients was proportional to the serum butyrate concentration. In vitro, IL-6 expression in NPC cells could be up-regulated by butyrate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Research, China Medical College Hospital, 2 Yuh-Der Road, Taichung 404, Taiwan. t6218@hpd.cmch.org.tw
authors.forename: Kuan-Chih
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Shiow-Her
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chiou
authors.forename: Shu-Peng
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Ming-Hsui
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Chi-Long
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Liang-Shun
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Kwan-Hwa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chi
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D020148:Butyric Acid / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015996:Survival Rate; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015850:Interleukin-6; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D020148:Butyric Acid