The role of leukemia inhibitory factor in cardiovascular diseases in leukemia patients: diagnostic and prognostic approach
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Fatemeh Javaherforoosh Zadeh,1,* Mehran Amrovani,2
1. Associate professor of Anesthesia, Department of cardiac anesthesia, Ahvaz Anesthesiology and Pain Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz
2. High Institute for Education and Research in Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran.
- Introduction: Leukemia is a group of malignancies, that usually begins in the bone marrow and results in high numbers of abnormal blood cells; it is one of the leading causes of death. Chemotherapy drugs are used to treat leukemia by blocking and activating a series of pathways. Some of these drugs cause side effects, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) by disrupting the endothelial cells. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a secretory glycoprotein, that belongs to the IL-6 family. IL-6 has been shown to be involved in heart protection, creating blood vessels and cell-to-cell attachment in the heart, and promoting the proliferation of cardio myocytes. Evidence also shows, that LIF affects the heart muscle and protects the heart muscle against Reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage. By binding to its specific receptor, LIF targets the damaged myocardium through some signaling pathways, preserving EC structure and angiogenesis; it may be a good option for the CVD treatment. Therefore, in this study we investigated the LIF role in the pathogenesis of CVD caused by treatment in the leukemia patients.
- Methods: This article is a review of researches done during 1995-2021 in the PubMed, EMBASE and Scopus database. The following keywords were used for this article: "Leukemia", "Leukemia inhibitory factor", "Cardiovascular disease", "Angiogenesis", "Endothelial Dysfunction".
- Results: LIF that improves CVD by activating the JAK / STAT, PI3K / AKT, and MEK / ERK signaling pathways. The activating factors of angiogenesis pathway such as VEGF and VE-Cadherin are expressed through the LIF activation pathway. Activation of angiogenesis due to LIF may lead to malignant leukemia.
- Conclusion: LIF has a dual role; it can be considered for activating the signaling pathways and improves the heart function. LIF-induced angiogenesis may lead to the development of leukemia. The relationship between the treatment strategies and LIF signaling pathways in different tissues, needs to be studied more extensively.
- Keywords: Leukemia inhibitory factor, Leukemia, Endothelial cell, Diagnosis
