Evaluation of Inflammatory Biomarkers Gal-1 and IL-1β and Liver Enzyme Activities in Gastric Cancer Patients Pre- and Post-Chemotherapy: A Case-Control Study

K. Haroon, Alaa.; R. Ali, Noor; Abbas Alghanmi, Fadhil; M. M. Jassim, Muslim

doi:10.31557/APJCP.2025.26.12.4471

Evaluation of Inflammatory Biomarkers Gal-1 and IL-1β and Liver Enzyme Activities in Gastric Cancer Patients Pre- and Post-Chemotherapy: A Case-Control Study

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Karbala, Karbala, Iraq.

² Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Thi-Qar University, Thi-Qar, Iraq.

³ Al-Mussaib Technical College, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Babylon 51009, Iraq.

⁴ Anesthesia Techniques Department, University of Cordoba, Najaf 54001, Iraq.

10.31557/APJCP.2025.26.12.4471

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the present study was to measure the serum levels of two inflammatory biomarkers, galectin-1 (Gal-1) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), as well as liver enzyme activities, in gastric cancer (GC) patients before and after chemotherapy, and to compare these findings with healthy controls. Methods: The study included 75 gastric cancer patients and 50 controls. Serum levels of IL-1β and Gal-1 were measured using the ELISA method, and liver enzyme activity was assessed using the kinetic chromogenic method with commercial kits. Results: Baseline levels of Gal-1 and IL-1β were significantly higher in patients compared to controls (38.1 ng/ml vs 16.1 ng/ml; p <0.001 for Gal-1, 86.3 pg/mL vs 18.8 pg/mL; p <0,001 for IL-1β). And also Baseline levels of ALT, AST and ALP was significantly higher in the patient group pages Following chemotherapy, levels of IL-1β significantly decreased to 67.9 pg/ml (P < 0.001) and Gal-1 showed a modest decrease to 37.2 ng/ml (not significant, P = 0.06). Although reduced by about 10%, both biomarkers remained significantly higher compared to controls (P < 0.001). In contrast, the activities of liver enzymes significantly increased after chemotherapy. Conclusion: Both Gal-1 and IL-1β play pivotal roles in causing inflammation during the development of GC, and their expression may represent an integrated systemic inflammatory process in GC patients regardless of gastrectomy as well as chemotherapy. In addition, the combination chemotherapy in treatment of GC led to hepatotoxicity as suggested by sera hepatic enzyme activities during and following therapy.

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