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. 2021 Aug;25(15):7426-7435.
doi: 10.1111/jcmm.16772. Epub 2021 Jul 8.

Low IL-23 levels in peripheral blood and bone marrow at diagnosis of acute leukemia in children increased with the elimination of leukemic burden

Archontis Zampogiannis  1 , Christina Piperi  2 , Margarita Baka  3 , Iliana Zoi  2 , Athanasios G Papavassiliou  2 , Maria Moschovi  1
Affiliations

Low IL-23 levels in peripheral blood and bone marrow at diagnosis of acute leukemia in children increased with the elimination of leukemic burden

Archontis Zampogiannis et al. J Cell Mol Med. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

IL-23 is an IL-12 cytokine family member with pleiotropic functions that regulates tumour growth in various cancer types, exhibiting both anti-tumorigenic and pro-tumorigenic properties. Preclinical studies have shown a potential anti-leukemic action on childhood B-ALL cells. The study involved 65 children with acute leukemia [59 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 6 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML)] and 27 healthy controls. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, we aimed to determine the IL-23 levels in the peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) of patients at diagnosis and at the end of the induction therapy (EIT). PB IL-23 levels were lower in leukemia patients compared to the healthy controls. In all acute leukemia patients, IL-23 levels were significantly lower at diagnosis both in PB (P = .015) and in BM (P = .037) compared to the PB and BM concentrations at the EIT. The same pattern was present in both subgroups of ALL and AML patients. The high leukemic burden at diagnosis was related with lower IL-23 levels, which were increased with the disease remission. Considering the anti-leukemic potential of this cytokine, the elevation of the IL-23 concentration at the disease remission indicates a beneficial role of IL-23 in paediatric acute leukemia.

Keywords: IL-23; acute leukemia; acute lymphoblastic leukemia; acute myeloid leukemia; children.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
A, Lower IL‐23 levels in peripheral blood (PB) of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients (n = 54) at diagnosis compared to healthy controls (n = 27). B, Lower IL‐23 levels in PB of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients (n = 6) at diagnosis compared to healthy controls (n = 27). Box plots represent the first (25%) and the third (75%) quartile of the distribution. The cross‐line denotes the median, and the lower and upper whiskers represent the 1st and the 99th percentiles, respectively
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Lower IL‐23 levels in peripheral blood (PB) in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients (n = 26) at diagnosis (Day 0) compared to the end of the induction therapy (EIT). Box plots represent the first (25%) and the third (75%) quartiles of the distribution. The cross‐line denotes the median, and the lower and upper whiskers represent the 1st and the 99th percentiles, respectively
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Lower IL‐23 levels in bone marrow (BM) in all leukemia (AL) patients (n = 35), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients (n = 32) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients (n = 3) at diagnosis (Day 0) compared to the end of the induction therapy (EIT). Box plots represent the first (25%) and the third (75%) quartiles of the distribution. The cross‐line denotes the median, and the lower and upper whiskers represent the 1st and the 99th percentiles, respectively
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