Expression Levels of Serum Hepcidin, IL-6 and TNF-? and Clinical Significance in Malignant Tumor Patients with Anemia of Chronic Disease

Abstract

To explore the effect and possible mechanism of serum hepcidin on malignant tumor patients combined with anemia of chronic disease (ACD). ELISA method was used to measure the concentrations of serum hepcidin, interleukine-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in 40 malignant tumor patients with ACD. Meanwhile, the concentrations of serum hepcidin, IL-6, and TNF-α in 20 malignant tumor patients without ACD were measured. The differences in above indices between the two groups were compared. Meanwhile, the correlations of hemoglobin (Hb) value with hepcidin, IL-6, and TNF-α in the anemia group were analyzed, and the correlations of hepcidin with IL-6 and TNF-α were analyzed. The serum hepcidin, IL-6 and TNF-α levels in the patients from the anemia group were higher than those in the non-anemia group, which were 49.48±18.38 ng/mL vs. 10.36±5.28 ng/mL, 11.79±4.11 pg/mL vs. 5.46±2.37 pg/mL, and 10.73±3.94 pg/mL vs. 6.48±3.26 pg/mL, respectively(P＜0.05). Besides, Hb value in the patients from the anemia group had negative correlations with serum hepcidin and IL-6 (r values were -0.739 and -0.379, and P＜0.05), but had no correlation with TNF-α (r=-0.213, P>0.05). The serum hepcidin in the patients from the anemia group had a positive correlation with IL-6 (r=0.377, P＜0.05), but had no correlation with TNF-α (r=0.268, P>0.05). Conclusion: Hepcidin plays a critical role in the ACD onset of malignant tumor, and may happen mainly under the participation of IL-6.