Cytokine expression profiles of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) detected by multiplex assay

Abstract

18530 Background: To determine the cytokine expression profiles of patients with AML and NHL using a sensitive bead-based Luminex multiplex assay in a routine clinical diagnostic setting. Methods: Blood (plasma/serum) samples were collected from ten AML and five NHL patients. Six control samples from patients diagnosed as non-neoplastic/non-autoimmune/non-inflammatory were also analyzed for comparison. All samples were frozen prior to analysis. Using a bead-based Luminex assay (Human Cytokine 8-Plex Assay, Bio- Rad, Hercules, CA) we analyzed these samples for a panel of cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, GM-CSF, IFN-gamma, and TNF-alpha). This assay uses polystyrene microspheres, which provides simultaneous quantitation of these cytokines in a single sample. The expression levels were presented in picograms/mL. Average values for each of these markers were obtained for each group of patients (AML versus NHL versus Controls), and their expression levels were compared using χ2 analysis. Results: Overall, there was a significant difference in the expression profiles of all these cytokines among three patients groups (χ2, P < 0.001). All cytokines were consistently expressed at low levels in NHL patients as compared to control group. However, the levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were increased by 2.7 and 5.8 times, respectively in AML patients as compared to controls. Conclusions: The low levels of cytokines in NHL and AML patients suggest suppressed immune system in these two disease conditions; however, these findings warrant further studies to explore the underlying mechanisms for the increased levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in AML patients. Currently, studies are in progress to compare the levels of cytokines measured by Luminiex assay in different stages of leukemias and lymphomas (initial, post treatment and recovery phase etc.). These studies are partially funded by grants from the National Institute of Health/National Cancer Institute (RO1-CA98932–01 and U24-CA086359). No significant financial relationships to disclose.