TGF-β Expression In Patients Research Articles

Comparative Analysis of Quantitative Gene Expression of TGF-β in Patients with Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis and the Normal Population

Background: Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC) is a widespread opportunistic gynecological condition resulting from infections by Candida albicans and non-C. albicans (NAC) species. Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), a significant cytokine involved in cell-mediated immunity (CMI), plays a crucial role in vaginal infections. Objectives: The current study was conducted to evaluate the differences in TGF-β gene expression between patients with RVVC and healthy individuals using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Methods: This case-control study involved 124 patients diagnosed with RVVC and 225 age-matched healthy individuals as controls. The mRNA expression of the TGF-β gene was measured using quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR). Data analysis and the creation of graphs were carried out using SPSS and GraphPad PRISM software. Results: The QRT-PCR findings showed higher TGF-β expression in RVVC patients compared to the control group, though the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.2538). Conclusions: Our study revealed that the expression of the TGF-β1 isoform was elevated in patients with clinical manifestations in the vagina, although the increase was not statistically significant. Based on this outcome, further in vivo studies are necessary to elucidate the precise role of TGF-β isoforms in the vaginal tract of patients with RVVC.

The prognostic role of HIF-1α and NF-κB expression in RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer: A Turkish Oncology Group (TOG) study.

Not all RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients experience the same benefit from anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) treatments. Studies have shown that nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), interleukin 8 (IL-8) and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) may be therapeutic targets for mCRC. The aim of this study was to clarify the prognostic value of NF-κB, HIF-1α, IL-8, and TGF-β expression in patients with left-sided mCRC receiving EGFR inhibitors. Patients with RAS wild-type, left-sided mCRC treated with anti-EGFR on the first line between September 2013 and April 2022 were included. Immunohistochemical staining for NF-κB, HIF-1α, IL-8 and TGF-β was performed from tumor tissues of 88 patients. Patients were divided into NF-κB, HIF-1α, IL-8 and TGF-β expression positive and negative group, moreover, expression positive group were also divided into two group as expression intensity low and high group. The median follow-up was 25.2months. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 8.1 (6-10.2) months in the cetuximab group, 11.3 (8.5-14) months in the panitumumab group (p = 0.09). Median overall survival (OS) was 23.9 (4.3-43.4) months in the cetuximab group, 26.9 (15.9-31.9) months in the panitumumab group (p = 0.8). Cytoplasmic NF-κB expression was present in all patients. The mOS was 19.8 (11-28.6) months in NF-κB expression intensity low group and 36.5 (20.1-52.8) months in high group (p = 0.03). The mOS of the HIF-1α expression negative group was significantly longer compared with expression positive group (p = 0.014). There was no significant difference in IL-8 and TGF-β expression status on mOS and mPFS (for all, p > 0.05). Positive expression of HIF-1α was poor prognostic for mOS in the univariate analysis (HR:2.7, 95% CI 1.18-6.52, p = 0.02) and in multivariate analysis (HR 3.69, 95% CI 1.41-9.6, p = 0.008). High cytoplasmic expression intensity of NF-κB was found to have a good prognostic value for mOS (HR 0.47, 95% CI 0.26-0.85, p = 0.01). High cytoplasmic expression intensity of NF-κB and negative expression of HIF-1α could be a good prognostic marker for mOS in RAS wild-type left-sided mCRC.

355P The prognostic role of HIF-1α and NF-κB expression in RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients: A Turkish oncology group (TOG) study

All RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer patients do not have the same benefit from the anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapies. Studies have shown that nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB), hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), interleukin 8 (IL-8) and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) may be therapeutic targets for metastatic colorectal cancers. We aimed to clarify the prognostic value of NF-κB, HIF-1α, IL-8 and TGF-β expression in patients receiving EGFR inhibitors in left sided mCRC patients.

Monocytic MDSC as a source of immunosuppressive cytokines in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) microenvironment.

Myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are one of the major components of the tumor microenvironment. The accumulation of MDSCs has been demonstrated in many types of human solid tumors. However, the relevance of this heterogeneous population in hematopoietic malignancies has only recently gained stronger attention. MDSCs are a phenotypically and functionally heterogeneous group of cells. The results of recent studies indicate that the immune dysregulation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) affects a monocytic MDSC (M-MDSC) subpopulation. This study aimed to analyze the frequency of M-MDSCs with intracellular IL-10 and TGF-b1 expression in newly diagnosed CLL patients. We investigated the potential role of M-MDSCs in CLL by analyzing the level of IL-10 and TGF-β1 expression in circulating M-MDSCs in correlation with clinical and laboratory parameters characterizing disease activity and patients' immune status. Seventy CLL patients and 17 age-matched healthy volunteers were included in this study. Flow cytometric detection of Mo-MDSCs (CD14+CD11b+CD15-HLA-DR-/low) with intracellular IL-10 and TGF-c1 expression was done. We found a significantly higher median percentage of M-MDSC with IL-10 or TGF-β1 expression in CLL patients than in healthy volunteers. The percentage of M-MDSC with intracellular IL-10 or TGF-β1 expression was significantly lower in CLL patients at stage 0 as compared to the stages I/II and III/IV according to Rai stages. The percentage of M-MDSC with intracellular TGF-β1 expression was significantly higher in ZAP-70-positive and CD38-positive patients compared with ZAP-70-negative and group of CD38-negative ones. There was also a significantly higher percentage of M-MDSC positive for intracellular TGF-β expression in patients carrying the 11q22.3 and/or the 17p13.1 deletion than in patients without these genetic aberrations. The percentage of M-MDSC IL-10-positive and M-MDSC TGF-β1-positive measured at the time of diagnosis was higher in patients requiring therapy as compared to patients without treatment during the observation period. In conclusion, we have shown that an increased percentage of M-MDSC cells producing IL-10 and TGF-β1 in CLL patients may be associated with the suppression of the immune response against CLL. It can be assumed that the increased percentage of M-MDSC with an intracellular expression of IL-10 and TGF-β1 may be used in the future as the factor defining the group of patients with shorter time to onset of treatment.

Prognostic value of TGF-\u03b2 in lung cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundLung cancer is the most important cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and the overall survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer has not improved. Transforming growth factor beta or TGF-β is a polypeptide member of the transforming growth factor beta superfamily of cytokines, while far fewer clinical studies addressing the association between TGF-β expression and the disease prognosis have been reported up to now. Therefore, our meta-analysis aims to determine the prognostic significance of TGF-β expression in lung cancer patients.MethodsPubMed, EMBASE, the Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases were searched for full-text literature citations. We applied the hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) as the appropriate summarized statistics. Q-test and I2 statistic were used to estimate the level of heterogeneity. The publication bias was detected by Begg’s test and Egger’s test.ResultsEight eligible studies involving 579 patients were selected for this meta-analysis. The combined HR for the eight eligible studies was 2.17 (95% CI: 1.71–2.77, P < 0.00001) and heterogeneity of overall prognosis was relatively low (I2 = 14.2%, P = 0.319). We further undertook the subgroup analysis including assessment of the association between TGF-β expression and pathology of the lung cancer, treatment and quantity of sample in studies. All the results revealed that a significantly high TGF-β expression in patients was an indicator of poor survival. Neither Begg’s test nor Egger’s test found publication bias in any analysis.ConclusionsThe present evidence indicates that TGF-β expression can significantly predict the worse prognosis in patients with lung cancer. The findings of our meta-analysis may be confirmed in the future by the use of more updated review pooling and additional relevant investigations.

Hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum and expression of transforming growth factor beta

ObjectiveTo explore the relationship between cellular apoptosis and hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum in the lumbar region.MethodsThirty patients with lumbar spinal stenosis were evaluated. Hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum was present in 15 patients and absent in 15. Hematoxylin–eosin staining and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) immunohistochemical testing were applied to compare these two groups.ResultsDerangement of fibrous alignment, fibrocartilage changes, and infiltration of inflammatory cells were observed in the patients with hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum, while fibrous alignment was normal and few inflammatory cells were observed in patients without hypertrophy. Immunohistochemical studies showed positive expression of TGF-β in patients with hypertrophy, while expression was negative in patients without hypertrophy. The integrated optical density was 2.6556708 in the hypertrophy group and 23104671 in the normal controls.ConclusionsExpression of TGF-β was closely related to hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum. Appropriate application of the TGF-β expression level can be used to predict progression of hypertrophy of the ligamentum flavum.

Role of Transforming Growth Factor–β in Airway Remodeling in Asthma

TGF-β is one of the main mediators involved in tissue remodeling in the asthmatic lung. This profibrotic cytokine is produced by a number of cells, including macrophages, epithelial cells, fibroblasts, and eosinophils. High expression of TGF-β in patients with asthma was reported by many investigators. However, controversy remains whether the concentration of TGF-β correlates with disease severity. TGF-β is believed to play an important role in most of the cellular biological processes leading to airway remodeling. It was shown to be involved in epithelial changes, subepithelial fibrosis, airway smooth muscle remodeling, and microvascular changes. Here, sources of TGF-β, as well as its role in the development of airway remodeling, will be reviewed. Therapeutic strategies that modulate TGF-β will also be discussed.