Association of circulating inflammation proteins and gallstone disease

Inflammation plays a role in the development of both gallstones and gallbladder cancer; however, few studies have investigated the association of circulating inflammation proteins with risk of gallstones.

This study measured 13 cytokines (including 10 interleukins [ILs]) that have been associated with cancer in serum samples collected from 150 gallstone patients and 149 population-based controls from Shanghai, China, in 1997-2001. This study estimated the associations of each cytokine, categorized into quartiles and coded as a trend, with risk of gallstones using logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounders.

Higher levels of IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 (p70), and IL-13 were associated with increased risk of gallstones (i.e. P_trend  < 0.003, Bonferroni corrected), with odds ratios (ORs) that ranged from OR_{highest quartile [Q4] versus lowest quartile [Q1]}  = 3.2 (95% confidence interval: 1.4, 7.5) for IL-13 to OR_{Q4 versus Q1}  = 5.7 (95% confidence interval: 2.5, 13.5) for IL-12 (p70). In a regression model including all four ILs, only IL-12 retained statistical significance (P < 0.05).

This study found four circulating ILs that were associated with gallstones. Future studies are needed to validate the findings and evaluate the common pathway or mechanism in the development of gallbladder diseases associated with these cytokine signatures.