A STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PRODUCTION OF CYTOKINES AND THE BIOLOGICAL FEATURES OF CACHEXIA USING RENAL CELL CARCINOMA HETEROTRANSPLANTED TO NUDE MICE

We studied the biological features of cacheixa using renal cell carcinoma heterotransplanted to nude mice (JRC 11) where cachexia was caused after the inoculation of tumour. The results of our study were as follows; 1) The JRC 11 tumour expressed mRNA of interleukin-6 by the analysis using the polymerase chain reaction method (PCR). 2) The human IL-6 was detected in the sera of nude mice according to the growth of JRC 11. On the other hand, human IL-1-beta, human tumour necrosis factor (hTNF)-alpha and human interferon (hIFN)-gamma were not detected. 3) The serial body weight of nude mice excluding tumour weight decreased at the 3rd week after the inoculation of tumour compared with tumour non-inoculated mice (control). Furthermore, the experimental group performed the resection of JRC 11 at the 3rd week after the inoculation of tumour showed a re-increase in the body weight, and reached the same weight as that of the control group at the 6th week after the inoculation of tumour. At the same time, serum hIL-6 was not detected in this group. 4) The serial weight of visceral organs including the liver, kidney and spleen began to decrease at the 3rd week after the inoculation of tumour compared with the control group. We conclude that serum IL-6 is defined as a promoter of cachexia in renal cell carcinoma relating to paraneoplastic syndrome.