Study on the relationship between interleukin-1α, interleukin-1β, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist and cervical cancer

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1RN) in cervical cancer and its correlation with clinical feature and prognosis of cervical cancer. Methods The data of 4 databases were collected and analyzed on April 28, 2019. The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to analyze the relationship between IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-1RN mRNA expression and prognosis in cervical cancer tissues (292 cases). The GEPIA (Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis) database (http://gepia.cancer-pku.cn) was used to analyze the correlation between IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-1RN mRNA expression and prognosis in cervical cancer tissues (292 cases), the LinkedOmics database (http://www.linkedomics.org) was used to analyze IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-1RN mRNA expression in different pathological types of cervical cancer tissues (226 cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissues and 47 cervical adenocarcinoma tissues), and the STRING database (https://string-db.org) was used to analyze protein interaction networks of IL-1α and IL-1β. Results The expressions of IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-1RN mRNA in cervical cancer tissues were significantly higher than those in normal cervical tissues (1.54 vs. 0.04, 4.82 vs. 0.46 and 73.53 vs. 0.67), and there were statistical differences (P 0.05). The expressions of IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-1RN mRNA were correlated between any two indexes (P<0.01), and the correlation between IL-1α and IL-1β was stronger (r=0.87, P<0.01); Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that the assessment prognosis value of IL-1α combined with IL-1β was the highest (HR=2.0). The expressions of IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-1RN mRNA in cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissues were significantly higher than those in cervical adenocarcinoma tissues (6.535 vs. 2.936, 7.382 vs. 5.588 and 11.170 vs. 8.639), and there were statistical differences (P<0.01). The associated proteins with IL-1α and IL-1β included IL-1 receptor type 1 (IL-1R1), IL-1 receptor type 2 (IL-1R2), IL-10, IL-4, IL-18, IL-1 receptor accessory protein (IL1RAP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), caspase 1 (CASP1) and IL-8; IL1R1 mRNA expression in cervical cancer tissues was significantly lower than that in normal cervical tissues (9.56 vs. 40.961), the expressions of TNF, CASP1, IL1RAP, IL-18 and IL-8 mRNA were significantly higher than those in normal cervical tissues (1.51 vs. 0.06, 33.70 vs. 12.61, 11.12 vs. 3.02, 24.59 vs. 3.54 and 20.01 vs. 0.48), and there were statistical differences (P<0.01 or <0.05); high expression of IL-8 mRNA suggested poor prognosis (HR=2.9, P<0.01). Conclusions Overexpression of IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-1RN plays an important role in the proliferation of cervical cancer. IL-1α and IL-1β can prompt the inflammatory response and prognosis of cervical cancer, and provide a theoretical basis for the early diagnosis and prognosis of cervical cancer. Key words: Cervical cancer; Inflammatory response; Database analysis