Serum resistin, visfatin, IL-17 and IL-23 as novel diagnostic biomarkers for thyroid carcinoma

Hazhar M. Balaky; Parween Abdulsamad Ismail; Hazhar M. Balaky; Parween Abdulsamad Ismail

doi:10.3934/Allergy.2025013

AIMS Allergy and Immunology

2025, Volume 9, Issue 3: 166-179. doi: 10.3934/Allergy.2025013

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Research article

Serum resistin, visfatin, IL-17 and IL-23 as novel diagnostic biomarkers for thyroid carcinoma

Hazhar M. Balaky ^{1
,
,},
Parween Abdulsamad Ismail ²

1.
Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Soran University, Soran-Erbil, Kurdistan Region-Iraq
2.
Department of Chemistry, College of Education, University of Salahaddin, Erbil, Iraq

Received: 19 January 2025 Revised: 10 June 2025 Accepted: 24 June 2025 Published: 08 July 2025

This study sought to identify potential biomarkers of thyroid cancer, such as visfatin, resistin, IL-17, and IL-23 levels, alongside investigating their involvement in the progression of the disease. Methods: This study included 56 patients that have thyroid cancer and 47 healthy people whose sexes and ages were matched to the healthy group. The sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit, which is widely available and dependable, was utilized to measure the level of interleukin-17, interleukin-23, visfatin, and resistin within the serum of the patient and control groups. These biochemical values were plotted against a receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve to determine their potential diagnostic use. Results: The serum levels of Interleukin-17 (255 ± 25.82 pg/mL), IL-23 (461.03 ± 29.97 pg/mL), visfatin (19.42 ± 2.91 ng/mL), and resistin (25.3 ± 1.9 µg/L) were all noticeably higher in the thyroid cancer patients; the ROC analysis indicated that these serum concentrations may be used as potential biomarkers for thyroid cancer diagnoses. Conclusion: In contrast to IL-17 and IL-23, which demonstrated stronger specificities (94.1% and 83.7%, respectively) and closer associations with thyroid cancer pathogenesis, the resistin and visfatin levels were significantly elevated in patients with thyroid cancer and showed diagnostic potential in the ROC analysis (AUC > 0.8). However, their non-specific pro-inflammatory roles and wider variability in metabolic conditions (e.g., obesity, insulin resistance) may limit their reliability as early diagnostic biomarkers. Therefore, resistin and visfatin need to be further validated in bigger cohorts to evaluate the confounding impacts, while IL-17 and IL-23 may be more suited for early identification.
- IL-17,
- IL-23,
- resistin,
- thyroid cancer,
- visfatin
Citation: Hazhar M. Balaky, Parween Abdulsamad Ismail. Serum resistin, visfatin, IL-17 and IL-23 as novel diagnostic biomarkers for thyroid carcinoma[J]. AIMS Allergy and Immunology, 2025, 9(3): 166-179. doi: 10.3934/Allergy.2025013

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Abstract

This study sought to identify potential biomarkers of thyroid cancer, such as visfatin, resistin, IL-17, and IL-23 levels, alongside investigating their involvement in the progression of the disease. Methods: This study included 56 patients that have thyroid cancer and 47 healthy people whose sexes and ages were matched to the healthy group. The sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit, which is widely available and dependable, was utilized to measure the level of interleukin-17, interleukin-23, visfatin, and resistin within the serum of the patient and control groups. These biochemical values were plotted against a receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve to determine their potential diagnostic use. Results: The serum levels of Interleukin-17 (255 ± 25.82 pg/mL), IL-23 (461.03 ± 29.97 pg/mL), visfatin (19.42 ± 2.91 ng/mL), and resistin (25.3 ± 1.9 µg/L) were all noticeably higher in the thyroid cancer patients; the ROC analysis indicated that these serum concentrations may be used as potential biomarkers for thyroid cancer diagnoses. Conclusion: In contrast to IL-17 and IL-23, which demonstrated stronger specificities (94.1% and 83.7%, respectively) and closer associations with thyroid cancer pathogenesis, the resistin and visfatin levels were significantly elevated in patients with thyroid cancer and showed diagnostic potential in the ROC analysis (AUC > 0.8). However, their non-specific pro-inflammatory roles and wider variability in metabolic conditions (e.g., obesity, insulin resistance) may limit their reliability as early diagnostic biomarkers. Therefore, resistin and visfatin need to be further validated in bigger cohorts to evaluate the confounding impacts, while IL-17 and IL-23 may be more suited for early identification.

Acknowledgments

We want to express our sincere gratitude to all staffs of Hiwa Hospital in Sulaymaniyah City for supplying the samples. The project was approved by Nursing Department-Mergasor Technical Institute Council/Erbil Polytechnic University. Issue Number (11198), Date: 12/11/2023.

Conflict of interest

This study's authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.

Author Contributions

The initial draft of the work was written by Hazhar M. Balaky. Parween Abdulsamad Ismail contributed to the research and data collection. The manuscript was heavily edited by Hazhar M. Balaky. A critical evaluation was taken part in by Parween Abdulsamad Ismail. Additionally, the second author provided final clearance for the version to be published and assisted in project supervision. The study's conception and design were influenced by both authors.

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