Inflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease and cancer

Mohammad Nurul Amin; Shafayet Ahmed Siddiqui; Md Ibrahim; Md Lukman Hakim; Md Salim Ahammed; Asma Kabir; Farhana Sultana

doi:10.1177/2050312120965752

Inflammatory cytokines in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease and cancer

SAGE Open Med. 2020 Oct 20:8:2050312120965752. doi: 10.1177/2050312120965752. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Mohammad Nurul Amin^{1

2}, Shafayet Ahmed Siddiqui^{1

2}, Md Ibrahim³, Md Lukman Hakim⁴, Md Salim Ahammed⁵, Asma Kabir^{1

2}, Farhana Sultana^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy, Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
² Pratyasha Health Biomedical Research Center, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
³ College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA.
⁴ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁵ Department of Pharmacy, University of Information Technology and Sciences, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Inflammatory cytokines are highly inducible small glycoproteins or regulatory proteins of low molecular weight secreted by different cell types. They regulate intercellular communication and mediate a number of physiological functions in the human immune system. Numerous prospective studies report that inflammatory cytokines strongly predict coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, heart failure and other adverse cardiac events. Inflammatory cascade is believed to be a causative factor in the development of atherosclerotic process. Several aspects of atherogenesis are accelerated by cytokines. This article provides an overall overview of current understanding of cytokines in various cardiovascular events. Besides, inflammatory cytokines trigger cellular events that can induce malignancy and carcinogenesis. Elevated expression of several cytokines such as interleukin-1, interleukin-6, interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, macrophage migration inhibitory factor and transforming growth factor-β are involved in tumor initiation and progression. Thus, they exert a pivotal role in cancer pathogenesis. This review highlights the role of several cytokines in various events of tumorigenesis. Actually, this article summarizes the contributions of cytokines in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Keywords: Cytokines; cancers; cardiovascular diseases; inflammation.

Publication types

Review