Early changes in IL-21, IL-22, CCL2, and CCL4 serum cytokines after outpatient autologous transplantation for multiple sclerosis: A proof of concept study.

Changes in serum cytokines after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients were documented. Thirty-six consecutive MS patients who had their Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scored before AHSCT were prospectively enrolled. Cyclophosphamide (Cy) was infused at 200 mg/kg in two administrations given 10 days apart: the first dose for mobilization, the second as the conditioning regimen. Patients were mobilized with 10 µg/kg/day subcutaneous G-CSF. Serum was collected 14 days before and 14 after AHSCT. IL-6, IL-9, IL-10, IL 17-A, IL-21, IL-22, IL-23, TNF-A, CCL2, CCL3, and CCL4 were measured by magnetic bead-based immunoassay. t Test and Wilcoxon test were used to compare cytokine levels before and after AHSCT. There were 28 women and 8 men with a median age of 46 (15-62) years, median duration of MS was 9.5 (1-32) years, and EDSS score was 5.7 (1.5-8.0). Patients had a decrement of pro-inflammatory IL-21 and IL-22 (p = .003 and p = .028) and an increment of anti-inflammatory CCL2 and CCL4 (p < .001 and p = .039) after AHSCT. Decrease of IL-21 and IL-22 coupled with an increment of CCL2 and CCL4 could reflect the immunomodulatory effect of auto-HSCT and be an early indicator of its efficacy.

The prognostic significance of serum XCL1 concentration in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a pilot study.

There is no information about XCL1 in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The objective of this study was to correlate the serum levels of XCL1 and survival in ALL patients. Only ALL patients older than 12 months were considered to participate. Serum XCL1 was measured at diagnosis, end of remission induction, and end of consolidation. Thirty-three ALL patients with median age of 21 years (1-78) were included. Higher XCL1 level (above 50 pg/mL) at ALL diagnosis correlated with higher survival (p = 0.038), whereas XCL1 level at end of induction and consolidation had no significant correlation. Concerning the behavior of serum XCL1 during treatment, higher survival at 5 years was observed in the group with progressively decreased levels of XCL1 (70%) than those with progressively increasing (29%) or no detectable XCL1 (14%). In conclusion, higher serum XCL1 levels at diagnosis and their progressive decline throughout chemotherapy could be correlated with higher survival.

TNF-α increases in the CSF of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia before CNS relapse.

There is scarce information regarding the concentration of cytokines in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and their clinical association with CNS status. A prospective analysis of 40 patients <18years with newly diagnosed ALL was performed. Human cytokine magnetic bead panel assay values of IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, MCP-1, TNF-α in CSF at diagnosis, end of induction to remission, and 6months after diagnosis were determined. IL-6 and MCP-1 values showed a significant increment at the end of induction. From the whole group 4 (10.0%), patients relapsed to the CNS at a median of 11.48months. A significantly higher value of TNF-α at third determination in these CNS-relapsed patients was documented, 7.48 vs. 2.86pg/mL in 36 children without relapse (p=0.024). TNF-α concentration increased at a median 5.48months before CNS relapse. By receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, the best cut-off point of TNF-α concentration that better predicted CNS relapse was ≥1.79pg/mL. In conclusion an increase in TNF-α concentration on CSF preceded CNS relapse in children with ALL. An increase in MCP-1 and IL-6 was not associated to CNS relapse and appears to result from an inflammatory response after IT injection of chemotherapy.