The elevated serum interleukin-6 correlates with the increased serum butyrate level in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

  • Authors:
    • Kuan-Chih Chow
    • Shiow-Her Chiou
    • Shu-Peng Ho
    • Ming-Hsui Tsai
    • Chi-Long Chen
    • Liang-Shun Wang
    • Kwan-Hwa Chi
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: July 1, 2003     https://doi.org/10.3892/or.10.4.813
  • Pages: 813-819
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Abstract

We investigated the clinical significance and regulation of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Serum IL-6 levels of 314 NPC patients and 202 healthy individuals were determined. Of the NPC patients, 69.1% (217/314) showed higher IL-6 levels than that of normal average (2.76±2.06 pg/ml). Elevation of IL-6 correlated with the advanced disease and the adverse prognosis of NPC patients. By employing in situ hybridization technique, IL-6 mRNA was detected in the tumor cells of NPC patients with high serum IL-6 levels. Concurrently, serum levels of butyrate were determined in 147 NPC patients and 52 healthy individuals by gas chromatography. Patients with elevated serum butyrate concentrations (4.2±2.2 µM) also had significantly higher IL-6 levels (29.14±5.17 pg/ml). No detectable serum butyrate was measured in the healthy individuals. In order to investigate the direct relationship between butyrate and IL-6, n-sodium butyrate (n-BT) was added to the NPC cells in an in vitro study, and marked increase of IL-6 expression was detected in n-BT-treated cells. Our results suggested that tumor cells could be an important source of elevated serum IL-6 in patients with NPC and that IL-6 level in NPC patients was proportional to the serum butyrate concentration. In vitro, IL-6 expression in NPC cells could be up-regulated by butyrate.

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July-August 2003
Volume 10 Issue 4

Print ISSN: 1021-335X
Online ISSN:1791-2431

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Spandidos Publications style
Chow K, Chiou S, Ho S, Tsai M, Chen C, Wang L and Chi K: The elevated serum interleukin-6 correlates with the increased serum butyrate level in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Oncol Rep 10: 813-819, 2003
APA
Chow, K., Chiou, S., Ho, S., Tsai, M., Chen, C., Wang, L., & Chi, K. (2003). The elevated serum interleukin-6 correlates with the increased serum butyrate level in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Oncology Reports, 10, 813-819. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.10.4.813
MLA
Chow, K., Chiou, S., Ho, S., Tsai, M., Chen, C., Wang, L., Chi, K."The elevated serum interleukin-6 correlates with the increased serum butyrate level in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma". Oncology Reports 10.4 (2003): 813-819.
Chicago
Chow, K., Chiou, S., Ho, S., Tsai, M., Chen, C., Wang, L., Chi, K."The elevated serum interleukin-6 correlates with the increased serum butyrate level in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma". Oncology Reports 10, no. 4 (2003): 813-819. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.10.4.813