ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the association of plasma EBV-DNA copy number, serum cytokines and B symptoms in patients with extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (ENKTL), unravel the mechanism and assess the prognostic value of clinical indicators.Methods:Clinical data of 173 newly-diagnosed ENKTL patients (116 male, 57 female; median age: 43, 4 to 71 years)were retrospectively analyzed. According to Ann Arbor stage, 126 cases were classified as stage I-II and 47 cases of stage Ⅲ-IV. The primary sites of tumors included nasal cavity (n=100), extranasal upper aerodigestive tract (extranasal UADT, n=34), and extra-upper aerodigestive tract (extra-UADT, n=39). Prior to treatment, 91 patients had B symptoms and 82 cases of without B symptoms. According to plasma EBV-DNA copy levels, all patients were divided into the negative group (n=36), low load group (<10 4 copies/ml, n=73) and high load group (≥10 4 copies/ml, n=64). Serum cytokines including IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α were detected. Correlation analysis was performed by Cochran-Armitage trend test and Spearman correlation analysis. Survival analysis was conducted using univariate and multivariate Cox regression hazard analysis and survival curves were derived from Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results:The incidence of B symptoms and fever showed a significant upward trend with the increasing plasma EBV-DNA copy levels. In addition, serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-6 and IL-10 cytokines were higher in patients with B symptoms than those without B symptoms (all P<0.05). Serum IFN-γ, IL-6, and IL-10 levels were also positively correlated with plasma EBV-DNA copy number. The occurrence of B symptoms was associated with high-risk clinical features including advanced stage, primary tumor invasion, regional lymph node involvement, and elevated pre-treatment LDH. Survival analysis showed that stage, B symptoms, plasma EBV-DNA, and the above serum cytokines affected the prognosis of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) (all P<0.05). However, multivariate analysis showed that the occurrence of B symptoms was not an independent prognostic factor of ENKTL patients. Conclusion:This exploratory study suggests that the incidence of B symptoms is associated with increasing levels of EBV-DNA copies and cytokines, and these indicators are also important factors influencing the prognosis of ENKTL patients.
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Objective:To study the effects of human CBS(Cord Blood Serum) on hematopoietic cells culture in vitro.Methods:CBS and/or different combinations of cytokines were added to the culture system derived from human bone marrow mononuclear cells.Colony forming capacity of colony forming unit-granulocyte/ monocyte (CFU-GM)?colony forming unit-granulocyte/ erythrocyte/ megakaryocyte/ monocyte (CFU-GEMM)?cobble-stone area forming cells (CAFC)?long-term culture initiating cells (LTC-IC) were observed.Results:CBS had certain cytokine-like stimulating activity that could promote the proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic cells of bone marrow in vitro. By comparison with cytokines, its GM-CSF-like activity was equal to 65.6 ?g/L rhGM-CSF, and its IL-3-like activity was equal to 2.9 ?g/L rhIL-3.Conclusion:CBS contains stimulating activities for proliferating and differentiating of hematopoietic cells. CBS alone can maintain hematopoietic cells culture in vitro. This study showed the prospect of clinical application of CBS.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to clarify the serum cytokine pattern in patients with chronic HBV infection in terms of their clinical state. METHODS: Intravenous blood samples were taken from 35 patients who were seropositive for HBsAg for at least 6 months and 7 healthy controls. Samples were initially tested for serum aminotransferases and serologic markers for hepatitis B virus by EIA. Serum levels of interleukin(IL)-2, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), IL-4, and IL-10 were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: Among 35 patients, seropositive for HBeAg was 20 and for anti-HBe was 15. The histologic diagnosis of 19 patients underwent liver biopsy were chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH) in 10 and chronic active hepatitis (CAH) in 9. Serum IL-10 level in patients seropositive for HBeAg was significantly higher than that in patients seropositive for anti-HBe (p 100 U/L. High level of IL-4 was seen in patients with normal aminotransferase levels. Conclusion: These results were thought to indicate that anti-inflammatory Th2-like cytokine (IL-10) production in chronic HBV infection is related to circulating HBeAg rather than activity of hepatitis and that Th1 cytokines seem to be associated with the increasing activity of hepatitis.