Alteration in Serum Levels of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha is associated with Histopathologic Progression of Gastric Cancer

Authors
Mehdi Alikhani 1
Maryam Esmaeili 1
Mohammad Tashakoripour 2
Mohammad Ali Mohagheghi 3
Mahmoud Eshagh Hosseini 2
Eliette Touati 4
Massoud Vosough 5
Marjan Mohammadi 1
1 HPGC Research Group, Medical Biotechnology Department, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
2 Gastroenterology Department, Amiralam Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3 Cancer Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4 Institut Pasteur, Unit of Helicobacter Pathogenesis, CNRS UMR2001, 25-28 Rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France
5 Department of Regenerative Medicine, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
10.52547/ibj.3847
Abstract
Background: The role of inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis- alpha (TNF-α) and IL-8, in gastric carcinogenesis has been investigated, but their impact remains to be further elucidated.

Methods: In this study, we measured the serum concentrations of these cytokines and H. pylori serostatus in dyspeptic patients, presenting with normal mucosa (NM = 53), chronic gastritis (CG = 94), and gastric cancer (GC = 82), by ELISA.

Results: Moderate levels of TNF-α were detected in the NM group (19.9 ± 19.5 pg/ml), which were nearly doubled in patients with CG (35.7 ± 28.0 pg/ml) and drastically declined in GC patients (1.8 ± 5.9 pg/ml). The serum levels of IL-8, however, were not statistically different amongst these three groups.

Conclusion: TNF-α serum concentration seemed to undergo up- and downregulation, when moving from NM to CG and from CG to GC, respectively. If confirmed in a prospective study, this cytokine can behave as a serum indicator of gastric inflammation and malignant transformation.
Keywords
Inflammation
Interleukin-8
Cytokines
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha