Increased Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha Expression as an Inflammatory Response Indicator and a Cancer Risk in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Background: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a pro-inflammatory condition that supports the development of metabolic aberration and ovarian dysfunction. Chronic inflammation and the increased levels of androgens in this group of patients and their impact on the immune system may increase the risk of developing malignancies, including ovarian cancer. Thus, we interacted ovarian tumor cells with Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) to evaluate some of their responses to the tumor microenvironment. Materials and Methods: PBMC were collected from 25 patients with PCOS and 25 healthy women and isolated by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation. Then, we measured cell proliferation and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α) concentration at different time intervals (48 and 72 hours) after co-cultivation of ovarian tumor cell lines (SKOV3, A2780) with PBMC in an indirect contact transwell system. Results: The proliferative response of executive cells during stimulation with tumor cell lines demonstrated no statistically significant difference between the patients and healthy groups, despite lower mean score in the control group. The proliferation rate after 72 h was significantly higher than that of the 48-h interval (PConclusion: We observed an increased proliferative response of effector cells and TNF-α production in PCOS patients compared to healthy individuals. This suggests a low grade of chronic inflammation that is the immunological feature of the ovary in PCOS patients. However, an increased risk of cancer in patients with PCOS requires further in vitro investigation of other aspects of anti-tumor responses using diverse sample size. Additional, exploring other immune cytokine profiles could be beneficial.