Gender-Specific Cytokine Pathways, Targets, and Biomarkers for the Switch from Health to Adenoma and Colorectal Cancer

Figure 3

In adenoma patients (a), gender-specific pathways partially regulate Th1 and Th2 cell network homeostasis. In neither sex was a significant relationship observed between IL10 and other Th1/Th2 network components. IFNγ and IL6 pathways (in men and women, resp.) still regulate, albeit partially, the sex-specific Th1 and Th2 cell network homeostasis (and so the immune response) in adenoma patients; in neither sex was a significant relationship observed between IL10 and other Th1 and Th2 network cytokines. No significant relationships for IFNγ or IL6 (in men and women, resp.) were observed in colorectal cancer patients (b), indicating alterations in the gender-specific regulatory pathways responsible for Th1/Th2 physiological homeostasis. The persistence of IL10 within the environmental network is a significant biomarker for the loss of Th1 and Th2 cell network homeostasis and disease progression in both men and women, mediated however through different sex-related Th1/Th2 pathways. In normal immune response the influence of IL10 on Th polarization is short-lived in both sexes.