ABSTRACT
Objective:To analyze the correlation between serum tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels and thyroid function in patients with colorectal cancer.Methods:Colorectal cancer patients in the Affiliated Hospital of Dazhou Vocational and Technical College and Dazhou Central Hospital from June 2017 to June 2018 were selected as the colorectal cancer group, patients with benign colorectal diseases were selected as the benign group, and healthy people as the control group. The levels of serum TNF-α and IL-6 were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The thyroid function [free triiodothyronine (FT 3), free thyroxine (FT 4) and thyrotropin (TSH)] were determined by electrochemiluminescence assays. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlation between the levels of serum TNF-α and IL-6 and thyroid function in patients with colorectal cancer. Results:There were 65 patients in the colorectal cancer group, aged (60.27 ± 4.35) years old, 36 males and 29 females; 32 patients in the benign group, aged (59.96 ± 4.27) years old, 18 males and 14 females; and control group had 40 persons, aged (60.32 ± 4.38) years old, 22 males and 18 females. The differences in serum TNF-α, IL-6, FT 3 and FT 4 level among the three groups were statistically significant ( P < 0.05), while the difference in serum TSH level was not statistically significant ( P > 0.05). Compared with the control group [(24.25 ± 8.30), (24.29 ± 8.27) ng/L, (4.41 ± 0.23), (15.78 ± 0.26) pmol/L], serum TNF-α, IL-6 levels in the benign group and the colorectal cancer group [(28.49 ± 7.62), (30.21 ± 7.60), (74.28 ± 16.73), (95.37 ± 12.53) ng/L] all increased significantly ( P < 0.05), serum FT 3 and FT 4 levels [(3.58 ± 0.18), (12.35 ± 0.20), (2.27 ± 0.11), (9.86 ± 0.14) pmol/L] significantly decreased ( P < 0.05); compared with the benign group, the colorectal cancer group serum TNF-α, IL-6 levels increased significantly ( P < 0.05), and serum FT 3 and FT 4 levels decreased significantly ( P < 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in serum TNF-α, IL-6, FT 3 and FT 4 levels in patients at different TNM stages ( P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in TSH level ( P > 0.05). The higher the TNM stage, the gradual increase in serum TNF-α and IL-6 levels, and the gradual decrease in serum FT 3 and FT 4 levels ( P < 0.05). The levels of serum TNF-α and IL-6 in patients with colorectal cancer were negatively correlated with FT 3 and FT 4 ( r = - 0.375, - 0.221, - 0.184, - 0.193, P < 0.05). Conclusion:With the increase of disease grade, the levels of FT 3 and FT 4 have decreased, the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 have increased, and the levels of inflammatory factors are negatively correlated with the levels of FT 3 and FT 4.