Association of interleukin-8 with cachexia from patients with low-third gastric cancer

Abstract

Background. Interleukin (IL)-8 has been implicated in the development of cancer cachexia. The polymorphism of IL-8 gene, which may affect the production level of IL-8, may be associated with cancer cachexia. Methods. The serum IL-8 level in our study was examined by radioimmunoassay. We also analyzed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) -251A/T and +781C/T of IL-8 gene, using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results. The serum levels of IL-8 were significantly elevated in patients with low-third gastric cancer compared with controls, and were further up-regulated in patients with cachexia than those without (Z = - 3.134, P =.002). A significantly increased frequency of +781 T allele was noted in patients with cachexia (OR = 2.247, 95 CI: 1.351-3.737, P =.002). The +781 TT genotype was observed to be associated with a significantly increased risk of cachexia (OR = 3.167, 95 CI: 1.265-7.929, P =.011), and with odds ratio of 3.033 (95 CI: 1.065-8.639, P =.038) for cachexia after adjusting for potential confounding factors. Meanwhile, haplotype analysis indicated a borderline positive association between T 251 T 781 haplotype and cachexia as compared with the T 251 C 781 haplotype (OR = 4.92, 95 CI: 1.00-24.28;,P =.053). Conclusions. IL-8 appears to be associated with cachexia from patients with low-third gastric cancer. Copyright © 2009 Bo Song et al.