ABSTRACT
To explore the alteration of plasma level of IL-18 in patients with leukemia before and after chemotherapy and its clinical significance, the plasma level of IL-18 was determined with ELISA method before and 2 weeks after chemotherapy in 37 leukemia patients, and 18 normal individuals. The results showed that the plasma IL-18 level (153.34 +/- 50.74 pg/ml) in leukemia patients was similar to the level (135.82 +/- 47.00 pg/ml) in normal control, and the IL-18 level in ALL patients was significantly increased (173.3 +/- 34.4 pg/ml), while the IL-18 level in CML patients (111.8 +/- 50.5 pg/ml) was lower than normal level. After chemotherapy, the IL-18 level (100.89 +/- 50.07 pg/ml) was significantly lower than normal level and oneself before treatment. It is concluded that plasma IL-18 levels in leukemia patients are un-homogeneous and IL-18 production decreased after chemotherapy, and immunologic hypofunction in patients with chemotherapy might be related with the decrease of IL-18 and related cytokines.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Interferon-gamma , Interleukin-18 , Blood , Leukemia , Blood , Drug TherapyABSTRACT
To explore the role of immune regulating cytokines in pathogenesis of the idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and its clinical significance, the levels of IL-18, TNF-alpha and Sc5b-9 in plasma of 32 ITP patients and 18 normal individuals were detected using ELISA methods. The results showed that IL-18, TNF-alpha and sC5b-9 levels in plasma of ITP patients were higher than that in normal individuals. The level of IL-18 was positively correlated with the levels of TNF-alpha and sC5b-9. In conclusion, The rising levels of the IL-18, TNF-alpha and sC5b-9 were correlated with disorder of Th1/Th2 subsets, and may contribute to the immune dysfunction in ITP patients. The dynamic observation of these cytokines may be useful in directing the clinical treatment for ITP patients.