Analysis of polymorphism at site -174 G/C of interleukin-6 promoter region in multiple myeloma

It is well established that interleukin-6 (IL-6) is an essential growth factor for multiple myeloma (MM) and patients with increased IL-6 levels have a poor prognosis. In healthy subjects, the presence of the C allele at a polymorphic site (-174 G/C) of the IL-6 gene is related to low IL-6 levels. In view of the potential association of this particular polymorphism with IL-6 concentration, and the relevance of IL-6 in MM pathogenesis, the objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of IL-6 (-174 G/C) promoter polymorphism and its association with development of MM in Brazilian individuals. We investigated the prevalence of these alleles in 52 patients and 60 healthy subjects (matched by age, sex, and race) of a Brazilian population. Thirty patients were male (42.4 percent), 24 (46.2 percent) were white and the median age at diagnosis was 58.5 years (range: 28 to 84 years). To determine the IL-6 (-174 G/C) polymorphism, molecular analysis was performed by polymerase chain reaction followed by endonuclease restriction digestion. The genotype distributions observed in the group of patients were 4 percent CC, 42 percent GC and 54 percent GG. The C allele frequency was 0.25. These results were similar to the control group, suggesting no impact of this polymorphism on the susceptibility to MM.

Plasmablastic multiple myeloma is associated with increased vascular endothelial growth factor immunoexpression

The biologic basis of the negative prognosis of plasmablastic myeloma is not fully understood. To determine whether histologically aggressive multiple myeloma (MM) is associated with a more angiogenic marrow environment, bone marrow samples from 50 recently diagnosed MM patients were evaluated. Twelve percent (6/50) of patients presented plasmablastic MM, and this feature correlated with moderate/strong intensity of vascular endothelial growth factor staining of plasma cells (P = 0.036). Although plasmablastic MM was not associated with increasing of microvessel density, this new evidence of increased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor on plasmablasts suggests that the adverse prognosis conferred by plasmablastic disease may be due, at least in part, to secretion of this angiogenic cytokine, also suggesting that the subset of MM patients with plasmablastic features may derive particular benefit from antiangiogenic therapies.