Barni S, Lissoni P, Crispino S, Cattaneo G, Rovelli F, Fumagalli G, Tancini G
Division of Radiation Oncology, Ospedale San Gerardo, Monza, Italy.
Int J Biol Markers. 1988 Apr-Jun;3(2):82-6. doi: 10.1177/172460088800300202.
The pineal gland and opioid peptides play roles in the neuroendocrine control of immunity. Both neuroendocrine and immune dysfunctions have been observed in cancer but the importance of the altered secretion of neurohormones in the immunoincompetence of cancer patients has never been investigated. This study concomitantly evaluated neuroendocrine and immune functions in 40 patients with early or advanced neoplastic disease. In each patient, melatonin and beta-endorphin blood levels and lymphocyte subtypes were determined on venous blood samples collected during the morning. Metastatic patients had lower melatonin levels and a lower T4/T8 ratio than patients without metastases but no significant correlation was found between melatonin and the T4/T8 ratio. beta-endorphin levels appeared to be normal in all patients. These results suggest that melatonin and beta-endorphin secretion have no role in determining immune dysfunctions in cancer.
松果体和阿片肽在免疫的神经内分泌控制中发挥作用。在癌症中已观察到神经内分泌和免疫功能障碍，但神经激素分泌改变在癌症患者免疫功能不全中的重要性从未被研究过。本研究同时评估了40例早期或晚期肿瘤疾病患者的神经内分泌和免疫功能。对每位患者，在早晨采集的静脉血样本中测定褪黑素和β-内啡肽的血液水平以及淋巴细胞亚型。转移性患者的褪黑素水平和T4/T8比值低于无转移的患者，但未发现褪黑素与T4/T8比值之间存在显著相关性。所有患者的β-内啡肽水平似乎均正常。这些结果表明，褪黑素和β-内啡肽的分泌在确定癌症患者的免疫功能障碍中不起作用。
