Evaluation of blood components and their association with Interleukin-18 in chronic myeloid leukemia

This study investigated the association between Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), Interleukin-18 (IL-18), and blood components. A case-control, multi-center trial was conducted from November 12, 2023, to August 8, 2024, including 134 CML patients and 44 healthy controls. Results indicated a statistically significant difference between the control group and CML patients in IL-18 levels, platelet count (PLT), and white blood cell count (WBC) (p = 0.048, 0.033, and 0.029, respectively). A significant age difference was also observed between the control group and patients (p = 0.0441). Furthermore, there was a highly significant difference in age distribution (>40, 40-60, <60 years) between the two groups (p = 0.0001). Significant differences were also found in PDW, RBC, MCHC, RDW-CV, MCH, HCT, and PCT levels (p = 0.0001). MPV and RDW-SD also showed significant differences between groups (p = 0.0006 and 0.0498, respectively). Finally, a significant difference was observed in age distribution (less than 40, 40-60, and more than 60 years) between the two groups (p=0.048). These findings suggest that IL-18 and specific blood components may play a role in the pathogenesis of CML.