SERUM INTERLEUKIN-10 LEVELS IN PATIENTS AFFECTED WITH MULTIPLE-MYELOMA - CORRELATION WITH THE MONOCLONAL COMPONENT AND DISEASE PROGRESSION

Using a commercially available, competitive ELISA kit based on a polyc lonal anti-interleukin-10 antibody, serum interleukin-10 (IL-10) level s were quantified in samples of different groups of patients: 20 healt hy controls (CTR), 11 monoclonal gammopathies of uncertain significanc e (MGUS), 17 multiple myelomas (MM), 10 cancer patients (CANCER), 13 c ancer patients + MGUS (MGUS-CA) and 7 MGUS patients after surgical rem oval of concomitant cancer (MGUS-SRCC). Results show significant diffe rences of both the median levels of IL-10 and the monoclonal component (MC) in CTR, MGUS and MM (patients with increasing concentrations in the mentioned order). The IL-10 levels found in the three groups of ca ncer patients showed serum levels higher than those observed in the co ntrols. Moreover, the surgical cancer removal was related to an IL-10 decrease. A higly significant correlation between serum IL-10 levels a nd the corresponding MC was also found in the MM-bearing patients and to a lesser extent, in MGUS patients, indicating that serum IL-10 is p arallel to the amount of the activated clone causing the monoclonal ga mmopathy. Since human myeloma lines, cultured in vitro may release sig nificant amounts of IL-10, the data presented support the hypothesis t hat serum IL-10, measured in myelomatous patients may, at least in par t, derive from the activated clone causing the monoclonal gammopathy.