Association of IL-1β Gene Polymorphism with Prostate Cancer Severity, Prostate Volume, and PSA Levels: A Case-Control...

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of death from cancer among men. The development of prostate cancer depends on chronic inflammation and cytokines, including interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). The objective of the research was to test the association between SNP (rs16944) in interleukin-1 β (IL-1β) gene and serum levels of Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) and testosterone concentrations in patients with prostate cancer.

This was a case-control study on 40 prostate cancer patients and 40 controls at Kirkuk City. The levels of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA), prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), testosterone, and prostate volume were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The ARMS-PCR was used to genotype the IL-1β , which was followed by statistical analysis of the association of genotypes with Gleason and clinical parameters with the help of Student's t-test, chi-square test, and correlation. The general significance level of the p-value is less than 0.05.

Significant differences were observed in PSA levels (36.4 ± 2.17 ng/ml in PCa vs. 0.91 ± 0.09 ng/ml in controls; P = 0.001), PAP levels (3.54 ± 1.51 IU/L vs. 0.87 ± 0.28 IU/L; P = 0.001), testosterone (6.54 ± 0.87 ng/ml vs. 3.27 ± 1.98 ng/ml; P = 0.011), and prostate volume (79.17 ± 6.26 cm³ vs. 23.21 ± 2.17 cm³; P = 0.001). IL-1β genotyping showed that the genotype AG and AA were more frequent among PCa patients than among the controls. The AA genotype was highly correlated with better Gleason scores (P = 0.021), increased prostate volume (P = 0.041), and increased levels of PSA (P = 0.034).

IIL-1β polymorphism, particularly the AA genotype, is associated with increased PSA levels, larger prostate volume, and more aggressive prostate cancer phenotypes. These findings underscore the potential of IL-1β genotyping as a biomarker for prostate cancer severity and progression.