Zinc status and cytokine profile in pediatric Hodgkin's disease

Abstract

Studies of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) and serum from 23 children with Hodgkin's disease (HD) show that serum soluble interleukin‐2 receptor (sIL2R) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α levels are closely related with disease status [patients with active disease (n = 23) 3552 ± 1551 IU/mL, in remission (n = 23) 1466 ± 613.7 IU/mL vs. control group (n = 10) 557 ± 125 IU/mL (P < 0.001); patients with active disease (n = 23) 946 ± 433 pg/mL, in remission (n = 11) 256 ± 110 pg/mL vs. control group (n = 10) 35 ± 16.7 pg/mL (P < 0.001) respectively], but no correlation between serum sIL2R levels and PBL CD25 expression and TNF‐α levels. Some previously recognized clinical and laboratory variables such as histology, clinical stage, ESR, blood, and hair zinc levels were analyzed to evaluate whether the levels of serum sIL2R and TNF‐α were associated with clinical and pathologic parameters of HD. J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med. 14:25–30, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.