Serum Levels of Interleukin-1β and Disease Progression in Multiple Myeloma Patients: A Case and Control Study

Multiple myeloma  (MM) is known as an incurable heterogeneous plasma cell malignancy that presents with a variety of clinical manifestations. Inflammation plays an important role in this disease. Cytokines and Chemokines cause the progression of the disease. One of them is interleukin-1β (IL-1β), which may be involved in the pathogenesis of MM. Other markers such as calcium, albumin, creatinine, globulins, and total protein are also used to diagnose and prognosis patients. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the serum level of IL-1β and various forms of calcium (total calcium, ionized calcium, and corrected calcium), albumin, creatinine, globulin, and total protein on stage-I of MM patients and healthy controls.

Serum samples from 30 stage-I MM patients and 30 healthy subjects as controls were examined in this study. The protein concentrations of serum IL-1β was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), total calcium, albumin, creatinine, total protein, and globulin Measured by auto analyzer BT3000, an electrolyte analyzer was used to measure ionized calcium (Ca++) and a special equation was used to calculate the corrected calcium.

The mean level of IL-1β was significantly elevated in stage-I MM. The mean levels of IL-1β were 7.04±1.15 ng/ml in stage-I MM and 3.12± 0.90 ng/ml in controls (p<0.001). The mean levels of total calcium (total Ca) were 9.45±0.56 mg/dl in stage-I MM and 9.09±0.43mg/dl in controls (p=0.008). The mean levels of ionized calcium (Ca++) was 4.65±0.28mg/dl in stage-I MM and 4.75±0.33mg/dl in controls (p=0.2). The mean ratio of serum ionized calcium to total calcium (Ca++/ total Ca) was 0.49±0.054 in stage-I MM and 0.52±0.047 in controls (p=0.02). The mean ratio of serum ionized calcium to corrected calcium (Ca++/corrected Ca) was 0.42±0.033 in stage-I MM and the Mean ratio of serum ionized calcium to calcium total (Ca++/ total Ca) was 0.52±0.047 in controls, Comparison of the mean of the two groups shows a significant difference (p<0.001). The mean level of albumin was 1.72±0.35 g/dl in stage-I MM and4.32±0.41g/dl in controls (p<0.001). The mean level of total protein was 12.65±0.81g/dl in stage-I MM and 7.07±0.4 g/dl in controls (p<0.001). The mean level of globulin was 11.00±0.96 mg/dl in stage-I MM and 2.85±0.77 mg/dl in controls (p<0.001). The mean level of creatinine was 1.15±0.25 mg/dl in stage-I MM and 0.96±0.15 mg/dl in controls (p=0.001).

The results of the study indicate the possible involvement of IL-1β at stage-I MM and it can indicate the role of chemokines in the disease process, especially in the early stages. Changes in the chemical profiles mentioned can help in the diagnosis and prognosis of the disease.