Objective: To explore the clinical value of the inflammasomes NLRP1 and NLRC4 in the diagnosis and treatment of PCa.
Methods: Using immunohistochemical staining, we detected the expressions of the inflammasomes NLRP1 and NLRC4 and the inflammatory cytokines IL-18 and IL-1β in 54 cases of BPH and 58 cases of PCa treated in Pinghu First People's Hospital from January 2022 to May 2022. We analyzed the characteristics of their expressions in the two groups of patients and the correlation of NLRP1 and NLRC4 expressions with tPSA, fPSA and Gleason scores in the PCa patients. Based on the Cancer Genome Atlas dataset, we compared the expressions of NLRP1 and NLRC4 in different stages of PCa.
Results: The NLRP1 and NLRC4 expressions were significantly increased in the PCa patients (P < 0.001). The expression of NLRP1 was linearly correlated with those of IL-1β and IL-18 (P < 0.05), and so was the expression of NLRC4 with that of IL-18 (P < 0.05). The expressions of NLRP1 and NLRC4 were positively correlated with the Gleason scores of the PCa patients (P < 0.05), the former remarkably higher in T3 and T4 than in T1 (P > 0.05), and the latter markedly higher in T2, T3 and T4 than in T1 (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The inflammasomes NLRP1 and NLRC4 are highly expressed in PCa and facilitate tumorgenesis by promoting the maturation and release of the inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18, which indicates their important role in the progression of tumors and clinical value in the risk assessment and prognosis of PCa.
Keywords: prostate cancer; benign prostatic hyperplasia; inflammasome; tumor; clinical value.