IL-10 gene polymorphism and influence of chemotherapy on cytokine plasma levels in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients: IL-10 polymorphism and plasma levels in leukemia patients

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is the leading form of cancer in infancy, and compelling evidences suggest an involvement of altered immune competence on this malignancy pathogenesis. Interleukin 10 (IL-10) is a pleiotropic cytokine designated as an immunosuppressive molecule, but may act as an immunostimulant factor in cancer development and progression. An IL-10 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1800896 has been associated with disease progression to ALL, and might influence cytokine expression. This study analyzed the IL-10 rs1800896 polymorphism and performed a case–control study to determine the significant associations with ALL susceptibility and prognosis. IL-10 plasma levels were determined and associated with genotypes and disease phase. The study consisted of 67 childhood ALL patients and 75 age-related healthy controls. The rs1800896 was not associated with ALL susceptibility or risk of relapse. No significant association was observed between different genotypes of the rs1800896 and plasma levels of IL-10. Cytokine plasma levels were significantly higher in the diagnosis group (9.71 pg/mL ± 3.7), comparing to the treatment (3.48 pg/mL ± 1.3; p = 0.01) and remission phase (0.12 pg/mL ± 0.1; p = 0.0001) groups. This work indicates that the IL-10 plasma expression is altered from ALL disease diagnosis and remission. Moreover, prospective studies will establish the functional role of IL-10 in immune modulation in childhood ALL.