Serum Homocysteine, Hepcidin, IL-22 and IL-33 as Critical Biomarkers in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a diverse hematologic malignancy marked by considerable genetic and clinical heterogeneity. Therefore. The present study investigated the roles of interleukin IL‑22 and IL‑33 along with their relation with iron levels, and inflammatory markers erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in progression of CLL disease, aiming to identify prospective biomarkers for enhanced risk evaluation and focused therapy approaches.

Materials and Methods: A total of 60 individuals with CLL and 40 healthy control were enlisted. Blood samples were collected from all participants to evaluate the ESR, while the serum of participants was used to detect homocysteine, hepcidin, iron levels, IL-22, IL-33 and CRP by using enzyme‑linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results: demonstrated markedly elevated homocysteine levels in CLL patients (20.98 ± 0.62 nmol/ml) in compared to control (7.6 ± 0.48 nmol/ml, P < 0.0001). Iron levels were also much lower in CLL patients (41.38 ± 1.46 μg/dL) than the control (97.44 ± 4.6 μg/dL, P < 0.0001). Both IL-22 and IL-33 were considerably enhanced in CLL patients; IL-22 increased from 3.55 ± 0.45 pg/ml in control to 51.7 ± 3.2 pg/ml in patients (P < 0.0001), while IL-33 rose from 12.77 ± 1.3 pg/ml to 59.9 ± 2.9 pg/ml (P < 0.0001). Also, CRP and ESR levels were very high in CLL patients. Correlation analysis revealed significant connections among iron levels, IL-22, IL-33, and inflammatory markers, illustrating the intricate interplay of metabolic and inflammatory processes in CLL.

Conclusion: These results provide light on the abnormal clinical manifestations of CLL and indicate that monitoring biochemical and inflammatory biomarkers may improve risk assessment and guide targeted therapy.