Abstract: Abstract: Objective To explore the expressions of interleukin (IL)- 17A and its receptor IL- 17RA in different degrees of malignant gliomas. Methods Fifty patients with glioma were collected in this study. Accordance to the World Health Organization Classification System, patients were classified by malignancy grade, including grade Ⅰ (n=12), grade Ⅱ (n=18), grade Ⅲ (n=13) and grade Ⅳ (n=7). The glioma tissue and peripheral blood samples of patients were obtained for detecting the expression levels of IL- 17A and IL- 17RA mRNA by using immunohistochemistry, quantitative real- time PCR. Western blot assay was used to detect expressions of IL- 17A and IL- 17RA in both the macroscopic (immunohistochemistry) and molecular levels (mRNA and protein). Results Immunohistochemical staining showed that the expression levels of IL-17A and its receptor IL-17RA increased with the increase of the malignant degree of gliomas. The mRNA levels of IL-17A and IL-17RA receptors in peripheral blood were up-regulated with the increasing malignancy grade of glioma (F=8.96, P＜0.05; F=10.34, P＜0.05). The mRNA levels of IL-17A and IL-17RA in glioma tissues were up-regulated with the increasing malignancy grade of glioma (F=11.21, P＜0.05; F=14.11, P＜0.05). The protein levels of IL-17A and IL-17RA in peripheral blood and glioma tissues were also up-regulated with the increasing malignancy grade of glioma (in peripheral blood: F=9.90, P＜0.05; F=11.80, P＜0.05; and in gliomas tissues: F=8.15, P＜0.05; F=14.46, P＜ 0.05). Conclusion The expressions of IL-17A and IL-17RA receptor are positively correlated with malignancy grade of glioma. These results provide some reference for clinical diagnosis of malignant gliomas.

Key words: glioma, interleukin-17A, interleukin-17RA