IL-6 and INF-γ levels in patients with brucellosis in severe epidemic region, Xinjiang, China.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of brucellosis, which is caused by the Brucella species of bacteria, is rapidly rising worldwide; however, few studies have investigated the immune response to this pathogen and clinical biochemical features. In this paper, we examined the levels of various cytokines and inflammatory factors as well as clinical course characteristics in patients with brucellosis, in order to provide evidence for the diagnosis, assessment, and prognosis of this infectious disease. METHODS: A total of 191 brucellosis inpatients (50 acute cases and 141 chronic cases), as well as 60 healthy control subjects, were included in the analysis. We investigated changes in the levels of six cytokines (IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, TNF-α, INF-γ) and related clinical biochemical markers in patients with acute and chronic brucellosis in Xinjiang, China. Possible factors were statistically analyzed using the t test, χ2 test, z test and a multivariate logistic stepwise regression test. RESULTS: We found that IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IFN-γ, and TNF-α levels were higher in those with brucellosis than in controls (P <  0.05). With regard to disease progression, procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly higher in those with an acute infection compared to chronic cases (P <  0.05). We found that the expression of all six cytokines tested was closely related to the degree of brucellosis using univariate logistic regression; however, only IL-6 and INF-γ levels were independent factors associated with the severity of brucellosis. CONCLUSIONS: Assessing cytokine levels in patients with acute and chronic brucellosis is not only useful for detecting the immune response, but can also be indicative of the severity of brucellosis. In particular, we propose IL-6 and INF-γ levels may be useful independent predictive factors in the clinical evaluation and diagnosis of brucellosis.

Immunohistochemical study on p53, H-rasp21, c-erbB-2 protein and PCNA expression in HCC tissues of Han and minority ethnic patients.

AIM:To find out the difference of human primary liver carcinogenesis between Han and minority ethnic patients in Xinjiang.METHODS:Expression of p53, c-erbB-2, H-rasp21 protein and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in tumor tissues of 50 patients (Han 38, minority 12) with primary hepatic carcinoma was detected by immunohistochemistry (LSAB).RESULTS:The positive frequency of p53, c-erbB-2, H-rasp21 and PCNA expression was 46.0% (23/50), 70.0% (35/50), 68.0% (34/50) and 82.0% (41/50) in tumor tissues; 4.0% (2/50), 22.0% (11/50), 64.0% (32/50) and 52.0% (26/50) in peritumors respectively and a significant difference, except for H-rasp21, of oncogene alteration was found (P < 0.05) between tumor and non-tumorous tissues. Combined the three oncogenes alteration, 26% (13/50) tumor tissues had positive immunoreactivity, but in peritumor and normal livers it was negative. The positive rate of p53, c-erbB-2 and H-rasp21 protein expression was 39.5% (15/38), 60.5% (23/38) and 39.5% (15/38) in tumors of Han patients; 66.7% (8/12), 100% (12/12) and 75.0% (9/12) in minorities respectively, with statistical difference (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Overexpression of p53,c-erbB-2 and H-rasp21 in human primary liver carcinoma is an important biomarker of genetic alteration. The different frequency of these oncogenetic changes may reflect some environmental or/and ethnic hereditary factors affecting the liver carcinogenesis. The special life style of Han, Uygur, Kazak and Mongolia nationalities in Xinjiang may also be related to the etiopathogenesis of this disease.