Immunometabolic landscape of glioblastoma – a comparative analysis of circulating cytokines and biochemical markers
Abstract
Introduction: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive primary brain tumour in adults.Systemic immunometabolic alterations are increasingly implicated in its pathogenesis, yet sex-and age-specific patterns remain unclear, especially in Uzbekistan.To characterize circulating cytokine and biochemical profiles in newly diagnosed GBM patients and assess sexand age-related differences.Material and methods: This cross-sectional study included 26 GBM patients (18 females, 8 males) and 26 matched healthy controls.Serum interleukin (IL)-10, IL-1, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-, and IFN- were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and biochemical parameters (alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase -ALT, aspartate aminotransferase -AST, bilirubin, calcium, magnesium, iron, creatinine, uric acid, lactate dehydrogenase -LDH, phosphorus) were analysed by automated assays.Data were evaluated using ANOVA, t-tests, correlations, and principal component analysis (p < 0.05).Results: No sex-based differences were observed (p > 0.05).Older patients had higher uric acid (p = 0.029) and borderline elevated IL-10 (p = 0.048) levels.Pro-inflammatory cytokines correlated with metabolic markers (ALT, AST, uric acid, LDH) and bilirubin correlated with iron/LDH.Conclusions: Glioblastoma-related immunometabolic profiles are influenced mainly by tumour-intrinsic factors rather than sex, while age contributes to metabolic shifts.These findings provide novel regional data and support cytokine-biochemical profiling for biomarker development.