Role of interleukin-10 and transforming growth factor beta 1 in otitis media with effusion

Background Otitis media with effusion （OME） is a disease with complicated pathogeneses which are not clearly known Increasing interest has been focused on immunological cells, cytokines and their roles in chronic inflammatory states. This study was designed to disclose the existence and roles of interleukin-10 （IL-10） and transforming growth factor beta1 （TGF-β1） in the cause of OME in adults, and to investigate the probable role of Foxp3^＋CD4^＋CD25^＋ T cells in OME. Methods The concentrations of IL-10 and TGF-β1 in the middle ear effusions （MEEs） and plasmas of 36 adults （45 ears） with OME were measured by means of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. As contrast, the concentrations of IL-10 and TGF-131 in the plasma of 30 normal volunteers were measured using the same method. Furthermore, the proportion of Foxp3^＋CD4^＋CD25^＋ T cells in CD4^＋ T cells of blood was tested by flow cytometry. Results （1） The concentrations of IL-10 in all MEEs and plasmas of the chronic OME patients were higher than those in patients with acute OME （both P 〈0.05）, so was TGF-131 （both P 〈0.01）. The concentration of IL-10 in MEEs was significantly higher than that in plasmas, not only in acute OME （P〈0.01）, but also in chronic OME （P〈0.01）. In chronic OME, the concentration of TGF-β1 in MEEs had no statistical difference with those in plasmas of the same patients. However, the concentration of TGF-β1 in plasmas of patients with chronic OME was significantly higher than that in plasmas of normal volunteers （P 〈0.01）. （2） The concentrations of IL-10 and TGF-β1 in MEEs of the patients who had been treated more than once were higher than those MEEs of the patients who were treated for the first time, respectively （P〈0.05, P〈0.01）. The level of TGF-β1 in plasmas of the patients who had been treated more than once was higher than in those of the patients who were treated firstly （P 〈0.05）, while the level of IL-10 in plasmas had no difference. The concentration of IL-10 in mucoid MEEs was higher than those in serous ones （P〈0.05）, while TGF-β1 had no statistical difference between mucoid and serous MEEs （P〉0.05）. The concentration of IL-10 in MEEs had a strong correlation with the duration of the illness （r=0.547, P〈0.01）. The same correlation was also found between the concentration of TGF-β1 in MEEs and the times patients being treated （r=0.579, P 〈0.01）. （3） The proportion of Foxp3^＋CD4^＋CD25^＋T/CD4^＋ T cells in the blood of chronic OME was not only significantly higher than that in the acute OME （P〈0.01）, but also higher than that in normal volunteers （P 〈0.01）. In chronic OME, there was a correlation between the proportion of Foxp3^＋CD4^＋CD25^＋ T/CD4^＋ T cells in the blood and the concentration of IL-10 in the plasmas （r=0.602, P 〈0.05）. Conclusions IL-10 and TGF-β1, as two important immunoregulatory mediators, participate in middle ear inflammatory response, especially in chronic course of OME in adults. Foxp3^＋CD4^＋CD25^＋ T cells may play some immunoregulatory roles in the course of this disease.

Hypermethylation of testis derived transcript gene promoter significantly correlates with worse outcomes in glioblastoma patients

Background Glioblastoma is the most common and lethal cancer of the central nervous system. Global genomic hypomethylation and some CpG island hypermethylation are common hallmarks of these malignancies, but the effects of these methylation abnormalities on glioblastomas are still largely unclear. Methylation of the O6-methylguanine- DNA methyltransferase promoter is currently an only confirmed molecular predictor of better outcome in temozolomide treatment. To better understand the relationship between CpG island methylation status and patient outcome, this study launched DNA methylation profiles for thirty-three primary glioblastomas （pGBMs） and nine secondary glioblastomas （sGBMs） with the expectation to identify valuable prognostic and therapeutic targets. Methods We evaluated the methylation status of testis derived transcript （TES） gene promoter by microarray analysis of glioblastomas and the prognostic value for TES methylation in the clinical outcome of pGBM patients. Significance analysis of microarrays was used for genes significantly differently methylated between 33 pGBM and nine sGBM. Survival curves were calculated according to the Kaplan-Meier method, and differences between curves were assessed using the log-rank test. Then, we treated glioblastoma cell lines （U87 and U251） with 5-aza-2-deoxycytidines （5-aza-dC） and detected cell biological behaviors. Results Microarray data analysis identified TES promoter was hypermethylated in pGBMs compared with sGBMs （P 〈0.05）. Survival curves from the Kaplan-Meier method analysis revealed that the patients with TES hypermethylation had a short overall survival （P 〈0.05）. This abnormality is also confirmed in glioblastoma cell lines （U87 and U251）. Treating these cells with 5-aza-dC released TES protein expression resulted in significant inhibition of cell growth （P=0.013）. Conclusions Hypermethylation of TES gene promoter highly correlated with worse outcome in pGBM patients. TES might represent a valuable prognostic marker for gliobtastoma.