Assessment of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-17, and vitamin D3 levels on a group of gastrointestinal tumor patients in Babylon Provence, Iraq

Background: Gastrointestinal (GIT) tumors refer to collection of tumor including colorectal, gastric, liver, and pancreatic tumors and other. Objective: The current study aims to measure the serum level of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-17 (IL-17), and vitamin D3 among GIT tumor patients comparing with irritable bowel disease (IBD) patients and healthy control. Materials and Methods: Serum samples were taken from 88 participants (42 from malignant GIT tumor, 29 from benign GIT tumor, 10 from IBD (as positive control), and 7 from health individual (as negative control)). All patients admitted in GIT center of Babylon in Merjan Medical city at April up to December 2020. The TNF-α, IL-17, and vitamin D3 level were measured by Enzyme-Linked Immunoassay (ELISA. Results: The result showed younger men are more prevalent with malignant GIT tumor with mean age (53.39 years) than benign GIT tumor as well as IBD. There is an significant increase in TNF-α (Least Significant Difference (LSD = 1.79) levels of malignant GIT tumor when compared with other groups (mean ± Standard Deviation (SD) = 23.7 ± 8.1, 20.4 ± 2.8, 18.9 ± 2.66, and 18.1 ± 2.78 pg/mL for malignant GIT, benign GIT, IBD, and healthy persons respectively). Results of IL-17 level also reveal a significant increase (LSD = 13.2) of malignant GIT tumor when compared with other groups (mean ± SD = 222.2 ± 73.5, 128.2 ± 35.5, 201.5 ± 39.4, and 164.2 ± 44.1 pg/mL for malignant GIT, benign GIT, IBD, and healthy persons, respectively). Inverse results were documented for vitamin D3 level, in which a significant decrease (LSD = 23.45) in the levels of malignant GIT tumor was observed when compared with other groups (mean ± SD = 204.2 ± 24.3, 306.1 ± 97.2, 453.2 ± 78.2, 368 ± 78.0 pg/mL for malignant GIT, benign GIT, IBD, and healthy persons, respectively). Conclusion: The current study concluded that early age men get affected with malignant GIT tumor in Iraqi population giving a hint to that the population at high risk to involved with such tumor as well as other tumor types with elevated level of TNF-α and IL-17 and decreased level of vitamin D3. More and more studies with large number of patients should be recommended to exclude the factors in which that may lead to such conditions.