Serum levels of interleukin-18 and nitrite+nitrate in renal cell carcinoma patients with different tumor stage and grade.
Interleukin (IL-18) and nitric oxide (NO) are immunoregulatory cytokines that have been suggested to participitate in the multistep process of carcinogenesis. In this study, serum IL-18 and nitrite+nitrate levels (as an index of NO generation) were measured in 26 patients with histologically confirmed renal cell carcinoma (RCC) before surgical procedure and in 8 healthy controls. RCC patients showed significantly higher serum IL-18 levels when compared to the control subjects (p<0.001). Serum IL-18 levels were found to be similar in patients with T1 and T2, T3, T4 tumors (p>0.05). Patients with grade 3 and 4 tumors showed significantly higher serum IL-18 levels when compared to the patients with grade 1 and 2 tumors (p<0.05). No significant difference was found in serum nitrite+nitrate levels between RCC patients and control subjects (p>0.05). Serum nitrite+nitrate levels were lower in patients with grade 3 and 4 tumors than those with grade 1 and 2 tumors, but this was not statistically significant (p=0.063). In conclusion, elevated serum level of IL-18 in RCC patients than in controls and extra-increase of this level in those with high grade tumors may reflect the degree of human defence mechanisms against tumor cells in RCC.
Department of Urology, Gazi University Medical School, Ankara, Turkey.
S
S
Sözen
U
U
Coskun
B
B
Sancak
N
N
Bukan
N
N
Günel
L
L
Tunc
I
I
Bozkirli
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood*; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009566:Nitrates / Q000097:blood*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology; D009573:Nitrites / Q000097:blood*
D020382:Interleukin-18; D009566:Nitrates; D009573:Nitrites; D009569:Nitric Oxide