精氨酸酶1在食管癌患者外周血的表达及其临床意义

目的检测精氨酸酶1(arginase1,Arg1)在食管癌中的表达,分析其与髓源性抑制细胞(myeloid-derived suppressorcells,MDSCs)消长的关系,探讨癌症患者机体免疫抑制状态的可能机制。方法应用流式细胞术检测30例食管癌患者PBMC中的MDSCs比例;实时荧光定量PCR检测PBMC中Arg1、IL-6和TNF-αmRNA的表达水平;酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA)检测血浆Arg1,IL-6和TNF-α含量。结果食管癌患者外周血PBMC中MDSCs比例及Arg1的mRNA水平均明显高于健康对照组(P<0.05),而IL-6和TNF-α的mRNA水平均低于健康对照组(P<0.05)。食管癌患者血浆Arg1含量高于健康对照组(P<0.05),而IL-6和TNF-a含量与健康对照组相比无明显差异(P>0.05)。此外,食管癌患者Arg1 mRNA水平和蛋白水平均与MDSC含量呈正相关(P<0.01)。结论 Arg1在食管癌患者外周血中的高表达与MDSCs水平和食管癌的发生、发展有着密切的关系,其检测将有助于临床食管癌的辅助诊断和预后判断。

The expression of arginase 1 in peripheral blood of esophageal cancer patients and its clinical significance

This study aimed to investigate the levels of arginase 1(Arg1) in peripheral blood from esophageal cancer(ECA) patients,and analyze the relationship between Arg1 and myeloid-derived suppressor cells(MDSCs).The frequency of MDSCs in 30 cancer patients and 20 healthy blood donors was detected by flow cytometry.Quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR) was used to determine the expression levels of Arg1,IL-6,and TNF-α mRNA in PBMC of all subjects.The concentration of Arg1 in plasma was also assessed by ELISA.The results showed that the expression levels of MDSCs and Arg1 mRNA in PBMC form ECA patients were higher compared with healthy controls(P < 0.05),while the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α mRNA were significantly lower.And the plasma level of Arg1 was obviously higher in ECA patients(P < 0.05),but there was no difference in the concentration of IL-6 and TNF-α between two experiment groups.In addition,there was a positive correlation between Arg1 and MDSC(P < 0.01).All the results suggested that the enhanced Arg1 may contribute to high level of MDSCs and ECA progression and growth.