Purpose: The purpose of the study was the assessment of the expression of IL-1β and IL-6, and the proteins regulating their biological activity, namely IL-1RII, IL-1Ra, as well as sIL-6Rα, sgp-130 in leukemic lymphocytes and autologous neutrophils of B-CLL patients.
Material/methods: The study involved a group of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients and healthy volunteer blood donors. The presence of chosen proteins and their natural regulators was confirmed by Western blot.
Results: Western blot analysis showed a decreased expression of IL-1β and IL-6 in the leukocytes of B-CLL patients. Decreased expression of sIL-6Rα has been observed in lymphocytes, with a simultaneous increase of expression in PMNs. Lower expression of sgp-130 was found in B cells while its expression was elevated in the neutrophils of patients in early stages of the disease.
Conclusions: The changes observed in the expression of IL-1 and IL-6 seem to exclude their immediate involvement in the progress of B-CLL. However, the presented changes in the expression of proteins regulating IL-1β and IL-6 in PMNs indicate a potential role of early immune response cells also in advanced stages of the disease.
Keywords: B-CLL; B-lymphocytes; Interleukins; Neutrophils.
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