Allergy history has been consistently inversely associated with glioma risk. Two serologic markers, soluble CD23 (sCD23) and soluble CD14 (sCD14), are part of the innate and adaptive humoral immune systems and modulate allergic responses in opposite directions, with sCD23 enhancing and sCD14 blunting inflammatory responses. We measured sCD23 and sCD14 in serum from blood that was drawn at a single time point from 1079 glioma patients post diagnosis and 736 healthy controls. Glioma was strongly associated with high sCD14 (highest vs. lowest quartile OR = 3.94 (95% CI: 2.98-5.21) and low sCD23 (lowest vs. highest quartile OR=2.5 (95% CI: 1.89-3.23)). Results were consistent across glioma histologic types and grades, but were strongest for glioblastoma. While temozolomide treatment was not associated with either sCD14 or sCD23 levels among cases, those taking dexamethasone had somewhat lower sCD23 levels than those not taking dexamethasone. However, sCD23 was associated with case status regardless of dexamethasone treatment. These results augment the long observed association between allergies and glioma and support a role for the innate and adaptive humoral functions of the immune system, and in particular immunoregulatory proteins, in gliomagenesis.

PMID: 20719886 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Source: National Library of Medicine.