The consensus sequence of FAMLF alternative splice variants is overexpressed in undifferentiated hematopoietic cells

The familial acute myeloid leukemia related factor gene (FAMLF) was previously identified from a familial AML subtractive cDNA library and shown to undergo alternative splicing. This study used real-time quantitative PCR to investigate the expression of the FAMLF alternative-splicing transcript consensus sequence (FAMLF-CS) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 119 patients with de novo acute leukemia (AL) and 104 healthy controls, as well as in CD34+ cells from 12 AL patients and 10 healthy donors. A 429-bp fragment from a novel splicing variant of FAMLF was obtained, and a 363-bp consensus sequence was targeted to quantify total FAMLF expression. Kruskal-Wallis, Nemenyi, Spearman's correlation, and Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to analyze the data. FAMLF-CS expression in PBMCs from AL patients and CD34+ cells from AL patients and controls was significantly higher than in control PBMCs (P<0.0001). Moreover, FAMLF-CS expression in PBMCs from the AML group was positively correlated with red blood cell count (rs =0.317, P=0.006), hemoglobin levels (rs =0.210, P=0.049), and percentage of peripheral blood blasts (rs =0.256, P=0.027), but inversely correlated with hemoglobin levels in the control group (rs =–0.391, P<0.0001). AML patients with high CD34+ expression showed significantly higher FAMLF-CS expression than those with low CD34+ expression (P=0.041). Our results showed that FAMLF is highly expressed in both normal and malignant immature hematopoietic cells, but that expression is lower in normal mature PBMCs.

Seroprevalence and risk factors of human cysticercosis in a community of Shandong, China.

A community-based seroepidemiologic survey on Taenia solium cysticercosis in humans was carried out in Shandong Province, China. Blood specimens from 2,898 residents were collected and examined for anti-cysticercus antibody. Information on demographic and potential risk factors was obtained using a standardized questionnaire. The overall seroprevalence of cysticercosis was 3.2%. Seropositivity tended to increase with age ranging from 1.8% in children under 6 years of age to 5.7% in those over 60 years old. Distance between village residence and the town of the community was negatively associated with seropositivity (Chi-square for trend test p = 0.02). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified four risk factors for cysticercosis infection in the community: defecating indiscriminately (OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.01-1.81), being unable to identify diseased pork (OR = 4.09, 95% CI 1.53-10.97), raising pigs (OR = 1.36, 95% CI 1.09-1.69), and more than 60 years old (OR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.10-2.02. These findings have implications for developing appropriate strategies for the control of Taenia solium cysticercosis in the community.