title: Relationship between cytokines and tumour markers in patients with chronic heart failure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Serum levels of some cytokines and tumour markers are elevated in patients with chronic heart failure (HF). We aimed to investigate the relationship between circulating levels of cytokines and tumour markers in patients with HF.
  
  
  METHODS
  We included 35 HF patients and 33 normal controls. HF patients were divided into two groups: mild HF (NYHA class I/II) (n=10) and severe HF (NYHA class III/IV) (n=25). Serum cytokine levels (TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, and IL-10) were measured by ELISA and tumour markers (CA 125, CA 19-9, CA 15-3, CEA and AFP) by chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-10 as cytokines, and CA 125 and CA 19-9 as tumour markers were significantly higher in HF patients than in normal controls (p<0.0001 for all). Serum levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-10 and CA 125 in the severe HF patients were significantly higher than in the mild HF patients (p<0.001 for all). Correlation analysis showed that CA 125 was positively related to TNF-alpha (r=0.624, p<0.001), IL-6 (r=0.671, p<0.001), and IL-10 (r=0.545, p<0.001) in HF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings show that CA 125 is markedly elevated in patients with HF, and correlates with serum TNF-alpha, IL-6 and IL-10 levels. Therefore, we speculate that among the tumour markers studied, only CA 125 is closely related to the cytokine system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Inonu University, Faculty of Medicine, Turgut Ozal Medical Center, 44069, Malatya, Turkey. mferidunkosar@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Feridun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kosar
authors.forename: Yuksel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aksoy
authors.forename: Gulacan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ozguntekin
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ozerol
authors.forename: Ercan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Varol
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000097:blood; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen / Q000097:blood; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018394:CA-125 Antigen; D018395:CA-19-9 Antigen; D016207:Cytokines; D015850:Interleukin-6; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10