BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis plays a significant role in complex inflammatory and angiogenic processes and is also involved in multiple myeloma (MM) pathogenesis. IL-37 is a proinflammatory cytokine in antitumor activity. Our purpose was to evaluate the IL-37 clinical significance on MM.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We measured serum levels of IL-37 in 45 patients with different stages of MM and 30 healthy control subjects and correlated IL-37 with numerous cytokines, such as angiogenesis factors including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiotensin-2 (Ang-2). We also measured the tube formation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) after pretreatment with recombinant human IL-37 (rhIL-37).

RESULTS: Serum IL-37 level was lower in the patients with MM than in the healthy control subjects, whereas VEGF and Ang-2 levels were higher, depending on International Staging System stage. Serum IL-37 level had a negative correlation to VEGF and Ang-2 levels, and VEGF had a positive correlation to Ang-2 level. The tube formation of HUVECs was suppressed by the rhIL-37 pretreatment.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that serum level of IL-37 plays a part in the pathophysiology of MM progression. Therefore, IL-37 serum level may be a biomarker for disease stage and angiogenesis processes.

Keywords: Aged, 80 and over, Angiopoietin-2 - metabolism, Case-Control Studies, Demography, Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells - metabolism, Interleukin-1 - blood, Multiple Myeloma - blood, Neovascularization, Pathologic - blood