In vitro effects of lithium chloride on TNFα and IL-6 production by monocytes from breast cancer patients

It is well known that lithium chloride (LiCl) is able to trigger human monocytes to release tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα). In this study we have evaluated the in vitro effect of LiCI on TNFα and interleukin-6 (IL-6) release by monocytes from patients affected by nonmetastatic (BCa/M0) and metastatic breast cancer (BCa/M1), preincubated with autologous serum (sPt). Our data demonstrate that monocytes from cancer patients (BCa) treated with LiCl released lower amounts of TNFα compared to those from healthy donors (HD). Preincubation in autologous serum (sPt) impaired TNFα production by monocytes treated with LiCL. On the contrary, our data indicate that IL-6 production by monocytes from BCa was not impaired. Moreover, the results obtained from the same cells, preincubated in sPt and treated with LiCI, indicate that serum factors may synergize with LiCI treatment in releasing IL-6.