Does vitamin D mediate inhibition of epithelial ovarian cancer by modulating cytokines?

• S. Mohapatra ^[1] ; A. Saxena ^[1] ; G. Gandhi ^[1] ; B. C. Koner ^[1] ; T. Singh ^[1] ; P. C. Ray ^[1]
  1. [1] Maulana Azad Medical College

     Maulana Azad Medical College

     India

     
• Localización: Clinical & translational oncology, ISSN 1699-048X, Vol. 17, Nº. 8 (August), 2015, págs. 590-595
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Objective Vitamin D deficiency is reported to be involved in pathogenesis of ovarian cancer. But the mechanism is yet to be explored. An imbalance between Th1 and Th2 activity play a crucial role in pathogenesis of many cancers. The purpose of the study is to find out the Th1/Th2 status by estimating TNF-α (Th1 marker) and IL-4 (Th2 marker) in ovarian cancer cases and controls and to correlate these with serum vitamin D levels.

    Materials and methods A case–control study with 50 ovarian cancer cases and 50 healthy controls was conducted. The cytokines TNF-α and IL-4 were estimated by ELISA. Serum vitamin D was measured by electro-chemiluminescence immunoassay method.

    Results Median TNF-α levels (12.2 vs 6.2 pg/ml; p value <0.001) were significantly higher in ovarian cancer patients and mean IL-4 levels (2.22 ± 0.51 vs 2.99 ± 0.68 pg/ml; p value <0.05) were significantly lower as compared to those of controls. Levels of TNF-α and IL-4 did not vary significantly with clinical staging, and histological grading. Vitamin D levels were negatively correlated with TNF-α and positively correlated with IL-4.

    Conclusions Low vitamin D levels promotes Th1 activity increasing TNF-α levels and inhibits Th2 activity decreasing IL-4 levels in ovarian cancer. These low levels of vitamin D may induce pro-inflammatory micro ambience which might contribute to pathogenesis of ovarian cancer.