Objective: To study the expression and significance of IL-27 in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) and in the supernatant of MM cell lines U266 and RPMI8226 cells culture medium.
Methods: A total of 20 MM patients and 20 controls were enrolled in this study. The expressions of IL-27 and IL-6 in MM patient's blood plasma, and the expression of IL-27 in U266 and RPMI8226 culture supernatant were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The mRNA expression of IL-27 in mononuclear cells of MM patients' peripheral blood was measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Results: The levels of IL-27 in plasma of MM patients and normal controls were (61.82 ± 8.01) ng/L and (8.29 ± 4.41) ng/L (P<0.05), and those of IL-6 were (45.62 ± 1.24) ng/L and (2.27 ± 0.18) ng/L (P<0.05), respectively. The levels of IL-27 in U266 and RPMI8226 culture supernatant were (50.06 ± 5.72) ng/L and (335.47 ± 41.88) ng/L. RT-PCR revealed that the levels of IL-27 mRNA were up-regulated in MM patients compared to controls.
Conclusion: High expression of IL-27 is observed in MM patients and MM cell lines U266 and RPMI8226 cells. IL-27 may play a important role in pathogenesis of MM.