Influence of AFP, CEA and PSA on the in vitro production of cytokines

Several studies have demonstrated a decreased cytokine production in patien ts with cancer. Likewise, there is some evidence showing that tumor markers may play a role in immunoregulation. In this work, we have studied the in vitro production of IL-1 beta, IL-6 and TNF-alpha in whole-blood cell cultu res of 10 healthy subjects after polyclonal activation with lipopolysacchar ide of Salmonella enteridis and phytohemagglutinin in the presence or absen ce of three markers, AFP, CEA and PSA. Each sample was incubated for 48 h a t 37 degreesC in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2. Subsequently, cytokine levels in the supernatant were determined. AFP did not significantly affect the production of the three cytokines compared to the basal value obtained on adding PBS. In contrast, CEA significantly increased the production of IL-6 (p <0.001) and TNF-<alpha> (p = 0.002), while PSA significantly decrea sed IL-1 beta (p <0.001), IL-6 (p = 0.031) and TNF-<alpha> (p <0.0001) prod uction. These results suggest a possible role of CEA and PSA in the product ion of these cytokines. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.