EVALUATION OF IMMUNE RESPONSE IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA. II: HUMORAL IMMUNE RESPONSE

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a hematologic malignancy characterized by progressive accumulation of lymphocytes. This study aimed to evaluate humoral immunity in patients with CLL via estimation of serum levels of immunoglobulins IgG, IgA, and IgM and two cytokines: interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). Blood samples were collected from 48 patients with CLL (28 treated and 20 untreated). Other20 blood samples were collected from healthy individuals as control group. Single radial immune-diffusion assay was used to estimate the serum levels of immunoglobulins. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to estimate serum concentration of IL-4 and IL-10. The study showed unsignificant increase in serum concentration IgG and IL-10 while there was unsignificant decrease in IgA, IgM, and IL-4 in treated and untreated groups as compared with the healthy control group. These data indicates a little or unimportant effects of IL-4 and IL-10 on immunoglobulin production in studied patients