Changes in serum inflammatory factors, adiponectin, intestinal flora and immunity in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the changes in the body state of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including intestinal flora, serum inflammatory factors, immunity and adiponectin.

Patients And Methods: A total of 18 NSCLC patients (disease group) and 16 healthy people from the Medical Center (control group) were selected as research objects. The levels of immune molecules immunoglobulin A (IgA), IgG and IgM, and inflammatory factors interleukin-2 (IL-2), C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-6 were detected via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The level of adiponectin was determined using the quantitative kit. In addition, the changes in intestinal flora were analyzed.

Results: The overall survival time of NSCLC patients was significantly affected by IL-2 (p=0.0026), CRP (p=0.03), TNF-α (p=0.014) and IL-6 (p=0.00018). It can be seen that these inflammatory factors may play important roles in the progression of NSCLC. The levels of TNF-α (p=0.037), IL-2 (p=0.043) and CRP (p=0.000) in the peripheral blood serum were significantly higher in disease group than control group. Meanwhile, the levels of IgA (p=0.040) and IgG (p=0.000) in the peripheral blood serum were significantly higher in disease group than control group. However, no significant difference was observed in the level of IgM between the two groups (p>0.05). The expression of adiponectin gene (ADIPOQ) could remarkably affect the overall survival rate of NSCLC patients, and patients with high expression of ADIPOQ exerted significantly better prognosis (p=0.017). The level of serum adiponectin was evidently higher in control group than that in disease group (p<0.05). According to the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) score of the intestinal flora in both groups, the abundance of some intestinal flora (Enterobacter and Lachnospiraceae) was markedly higher in disease group than control group (p<0.05). However, the abundance of Bifidobacteria, Pediococcus and Lactobacillus was remarkably higher in control group than disease group (p<0.05). Correlation analysis indicated that Lactobacillus was positively correlated with Bifidobacteria (r=0.44, p=0.000), whereas was negatively correlated with Enterobacter (r=-0.22, p=0.024). Furthermore, Enterobacter was negatively associated with Bifidobacteria (r=-0.15, p=0.038) and Streptococcus (r=-0.12, p=0.046).

Conclusions: Serum inflammatory factors, adiponectin, intestinal flora and immunity may play important roles in the development of NSCLC.