Detection of BCR-ABL Fusion Gene in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia by Novel Digital PCR / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To establish a new digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) system for the detection of BCR-ABL fusion gene in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and explore its analytical performance and clinical applicability in the detection of BCR-ABLp190/210/230.@*METHODS@#A new dPCR system for detecting BCR-ABLp190/210/230 was successfully developed, and its sensitivity difference with qPCR and improvement of drug side effects in patients with CML during drug reduction or withdrawal were compared.@*RESULTS@#Among 176 samples, qPCR and dPCR showed high consistency in the sensitivity of detecting BCR-ABL (82.39%), and the positive rate of dPCR was about 5 times higher that of qPCR (20.45% vs 3.98%). During follow-up, blood routine (25% vs 10%), kidney/liver/stomach (25% vs 20%) and cardiac function (10% vs 0) were significantly improved after drug reduction or withdrawal in patients with initial dPCR negative compared with before drug reduction or withdrawal.@*CONCLUSIONS@#This new dPCR detection system can be applied to the detection of BCR-ABLp190/210/230. It has better consistency and higher positive detection rate than qPCR. Drug withdrawal or dose reduction guided by dPCR has a certain effect on improving drug side effects.

Chinese Siblings with Prader-Willi Syndrome Inherited from Their Paternal Grandmother

Background: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a complex neurobehavioral disorder causedby failure of expression of paternally inherited genes in the PWS region of chromosome 15.Case characteristics: Two siblings who both met the inclusion criteria for clinical diagnosisof PWS during neonatal period. Outcome: Molecular genetic analysis demonstrated a 417-kb microdeletion within the 15q11.2 region inherited from siblings’ paternal grandmother,involving key genes of PWS, except for UBE3A, which may explain why their father andpaternal grandmother had a normal phenotype. Conclusion: The findings may be helpfulfor better understanding of the underlying mechanism of this rare imprinting defect