Relationship of serum polyunsaturated fatty acids with cytokines in colorectal cancer.

AIM

To investigate the relationship of serum levels of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) with kinds of cytokines in colorectal cancer (CRC).

METHODS

Serum samples of 100 CRC patients were collected. The concentration of total n-3 PUFA which included C18:3 n-3, C20:5 n-3, C22:5 n-3, C22:6 n-3 and the total n-6 PUFA included C18:2 n-6, C18:3 n-6, C20:3 n-6, C20:4 n-6, and C22:5 n-6 were detected on GC-2010 Plus Gas Chromatograph with a OmegawaxTM 250 column. Cytokines were detected by MagPlexTM-C microspheres. P values for the trend were estimated by creating a continuous variable using the median value within quartiles.

RESULTS

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) showed significantly positive association with the C20:4 n-6 (P for trend = 0.004). Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) showed significant positive association with the C22:5 n-3 (P for trend = 0.035). IL-8 and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) showed significant inverse association with the C22:6 n-3 (P for trend = 0.049, and 0.021). MMP-2 showed significant inverse association with the C20:5 n-3 (P for trend = 0.008). MMP-7 showed significantly positive association with the ratio of n-6 PUFA and n-3 PUFA (P for trend = 0.008). MMP-7 also showed significantly inverse association with the ratio of C20:4 n-6 and (n-6 PUFA + n-3 PUFA) (P for trend = 0.024). IL-10 (P for trend = 0.023) and IL-6 (P for trend = 0.036) showed significantly positive association with the ratio of C20:4 n-6 and C20:5 n-3.

CONCLUSION

Our data suggested that serum levels of PUFA is related to the inflammation of CRC, and also play different role in regulation of immune response.