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Evaluation of serum level of substance P and tissue distribution of NK-1 receptor in colorectal cancer

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Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is known as the most common form of malignancies in the world and its occurrence is annually increasing. Due to the relatively high death rates in patients, finding better diagnostic and prognostic factors are required. Substance P (SP) belongs to the tachykinin family that acts as an immunomodulator by binding to the neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R). The interaction of SP with NK1R might be involved in tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and migration. Hence, this study was aimed to evaluate the serum SP level and tissue distribution of NK1Rs in CRC. Also, we assessed the relationship between tissue distribution of NK1R and some different tumor characteristics, including tumor size, and lymph node status. Recruiting 38 patients primarily diagnosed with CRC, the tissue distribution of NK1R was immunohistochemically evaluated in tumor tissues and their adjacent normal tissue. The serum level of SP was measured using an ELISA method in both cases and healthy control group. The SP value was significantly increased in the serum of patients in comparison with the healthy group (p = 0.001). Tumor tissues expressed a higher number of NK1R than adjacent normal tissues (p = 0.01) considering both the percentage of stained cells and intensity of staining. However, there was not any statistically significant relevance between NK1R distribution and tumor characteristics. The SP/NK1R system is involved in tumorigenesis of CRC, and might be suggested as a potent prognostic or diagnostic factor, or a new target in the treatment of CRC.

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Acknowledgements

We are very appreciative of all patients who participated in this research. This study was supported by Grants awarded by the Research Council of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (Code: 922073).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Shima Lorestani, Atefeh Ghahremanloo, Maedeh Abedi & Seyed Isaac Hashemy

  2. Student Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Atefeh Ghahremanloo

  3. Surgical Oncology Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Ali Jangjoo & Seyed Isaac Hashemy

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  1. Shima Lorestani
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  2. Atefeh Ghahremanloo
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Correspondence to Seyed Isaac Hashemy.

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Lorestani, S., Ghahremanloo, A., Jangjoo, A. et al. Evaluation of serum level of substance P and tissue distribution of NK-1 receptor in colorectal cancer. Mol Biol Rep 47, 3469–3474 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-020-05432-4

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