Expression of HOXB4, PRDM16 and HOXA9 in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Its Clinical Significance / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate HOXB4, PRDM16 and HOXA9 gene expression in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its clinical significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) with SYBR Green assay was used to detect the expression of HOXB4, PRDM16 and HOXA9 gene in AML patients (40 cases), the patients with complete remission (9 cases) and patients with non-malignant hematologic diseases as control (10 cases). The relationship between the expression levels of gene HOXB4, PRDM16, HOXA9 and clinical features was investigated by statistical analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The gene expression levels of HOXB4, PRDM16, HOXA9 in newly diagnosed or relapsed AML patients were significantly higher than those in patients with non-malignant hematologic disease (P < 0.05). It was observed that the expression of HOXB4 gene in newly diagnosed or relapsed patients positively correlates with leukemic blasts in bone marrow (r = 0.39). The expression levels of HOXB4, PRDM16 and HOXA9 positively correlate with each other. There was statistical significance among gene expressions in different phases (newly diagnosed, relapse, remission). No correlation was observed between expression levels of HOXB4, PRDM16, HOXA9 and chromosome risk status. It was noticed that expression levels of HOXB4, PRDM16, HOXA9 genes were lower in the patients achieved remission after two courses of chemotherapy than those in the other. And high expression group of each gene had a lower remission rate than that in the low expression group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The expression level of HOXB4, PRDM16, HOXA9 genes and leukemic blasts somewhat correlate with curative effect and prognosis. The expression of HOXB4, PRDM16, HOXA9 genes is higher in newly diagnosed and relapsed leukemia patients, and lower in the patients acquired CR/PR. High expression of HOXB4, PRDM16, HOXA9 genes predicts an adverse prognosis.</p>

Clinical Efficacy of Dasatinib, Nilotinib and Imatinib in Newly Diagnosed Patients with Chronic-Phase Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: A Three-year Retrospective Analysis / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate efficacy and safety of second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) dasatinib, nilotinib and imatinib in treatment of newly diagnosed patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data and follow-up results of 163 patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid lenkemia(CP-CML) who were treated in our hospital during the nearly 3 years were analysed retrospectively, among 163 patients 47 received dasatinib, 43 received nilotinib and 73 received imatinib. The efficacy, disease progression and safety were evaluated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After treatment for 3 months, the rate of complete hematologic response(CHR) in three treatment groups were 77%, 79% and 67%, respectivily, CHR at 12 months in three treatment groups were 92%, 91% and 90%, respectively. By 3 months, the rates of complete cytogenetic response(CCyR) with dasatinib and nilotinib were higher than that with imatinib (55%, 53% vs 33%)(P<0.05 for both comparisons), CCyR at 12 months in three treatment groups were 86%, 88% vs 69% (P<0.05 for both comparisons). The rates of major molecular response(MMR) for dasatinib (11%) and nilotinib (9%) by 3 months were significantly higher than that for imatinib (1%) (P<0.05 for both comparisons), MMR at 12 months in three treatment groups were 49%, 50% and 28%, respectively (P<0.05 for both comparison). Progression to the accelerated or blast phase of CML occurred in 2 (4%) patients received dasatinib, 2 (5%) received nilotinib and 6 (8%) received imatinib. The safety profiles of these 3 second-generation TKI treatments were similar.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Both dasatinib and nilotinib induced strikingly higher and faster rates of complete cytogenetic response and major molecular response, with a statistically significant difference from imatinib.</p>

Effect of 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine combined with trichostatin A on RPMI-8226 cell proliferation, apoptosis and DLC-1 gene expression / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was aimed to investigate the effects of the DNA methylation inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR) and histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) on DLC-1 gene transcription regulation and molecular biological behaviours in the human multiple myeloma RPMI-8226 cells. The cells were treated respectively with 5-Aza-CdR and TSA alone, or the both combination; the cell proliferation and apoptosis, DLC-1 expression, the protein expression of Ras homolog family member A (RhoA) and Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate 1 (Rac1) were examined by CCK-8 method, RT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. The results showed that the 5-Aza-CdR and TSA had cell growth inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing effects in dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05). Compared with a single drug (5-Aza-CdR or TSA alone), the effects were significantly enhanced after treatment with the combination of 5-Aza-CdR and TSA (P < 0.05). DLC-1 was weakly expressed in the control group; the treatment with 5-Aza-CdR alone enhanced its re-expression dose-dependently (P < 0.05). Compared with 5-Aza-CdR alone, 5-Aza-CdR plus TSA enhanced DLC-1 re-expression significantly.Compared with the control, 5-Aza-CdR and TSA significantly decreased RhoA and Rac1 protein expression (P < 0.05). It is concluded that 5-Aza-CdR and TSA can effectively reverse DLC-1 expression of RPMI-8226 cells; TSA has a synergistic effect on its re-expression. 5-Aza-CdR and TSA have significant cell growth inhibitory and apoptosis-inducing effects on RPMI-8226 cells. These effects may be related to the inhibition of Rho/Rho kinase signalling pathway.

Expression and significance of vitamin D and its receptor mRNA in the peripheral blood of initial immune thrombocytopenic patients / 中国实验血液学杂志

To investigate the effect of vitamin D in pathogenesis and clinical treatment of patients with immune thrombocytopenic (ITP), ELISA was used to detect the level of 25-hydroxylate vitamin D3[25(OH)D3] and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3[1,25(OH)2D3] in peripheral blood from 45 ITP patients and 30 normal controls. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) mRNA expression was detected by RT-PCR. The results showed that the levels of 25(OH)D3 (10.6 ± 7.7 ng/ml) and 1,25(OH)2D3 (69.9 ± 29.0 pg/ml) in peripheral blood of the initial ITP patients were lower than those in peripheral blood of normal controls (13.7 ± 9.1 ng/ml, 87.3 ± 19.9 pg/ml) (P < 0.05). The expression of VDR gene obviously increased in peripheral blood of initial ITP patients (1.588 ± 0.127), as compared with that in peripheral blood of normal controls (1.055 ± 0.734) (P < 0.05). It is concluded that vitamin D level and its receptor expression may play an important role in ITP, and vitamin D and its similarities may be a new agent to treat patients with ITP.

Recombinant human thrombopoietin in combination with cyclosporin A as a novel therapy in corticosteroid-resistant primary immune thrombocytopenia / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The management of patients with refractory immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is challenging, as there is no standard treatment option. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) in combination with cyclosporin A (CsA) for the management of patients with corticosteroid-resistant primary ITP.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-six patients with corticosteroid-resistant ITP were randomly divided into an observation group and control group. In the observation group, 19 patients received subcutaneous injection of rhTPO at a dose of 1 µg/kg (300 U/kg) once daily up to day 14. Simultaneously they also received oral CsA at a dose of 1.5-2.0 mg/kg twice daily for three months. In the control group, rhTPO alone was administered subcutaneously at 1 µg/kg once daily in the other 17 ITP patients for 14 consecutive days and then the treatment was withdrawn.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was no significant difference in the response rate at the end of the first week after treatment initiation between the observation group and the control group (63.2% vs. 58.8%, P > 0.05), neither was there at the end of the second week (89.5% vs. 94.1%, P > 0.05). However, the relapse rate in the observation group was significantly lower than that in control group at the end of the first (17.7% vs. 50.0%, P < 0.05), second (29.4% vs. 68.8%, P < 0.05) and the third month (29.4% vs. 87.5%, P < 0.01). In addition, rhTPO plus CsA were well tolerated and adverse events recorded were mild.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Combination therapy with rhTPO and CsA was effective in the management of patients with corticosteroidresistant ITP, with a relatively short time to response and low recurrence rate. It might be considered as a potential secondline treatment regimen for ITP.</p>

Changes of platelet α-particle membrane protein, platelet activating factor and platelet parameters in patients with hyperuricemia / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was aimed to investigate the changes of the platelet particle membrane protein (GMP-140), platelet activating factor (PAF) and platelet parametes in the patients with hyperuricemia (HUA), ELISA was used to detect the levels of GMP-140 and PAF in 55 patients with HUA and 30 healthy individuals. Platelet parameters were measured with automatic blood cell analyzer, and the biochemical indexes were detected at the same time. The results showed that the levels of serum uric acid, triglycerides (TG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in HUA patients were higher than that in the normal group (P < 0.01). Serum uric acid level of HUA group was higher in men than that in women. The levels of GMP-140 and PAF in HUA patients were much higher than that in the normal group (P < 0.01), the indexes of platelet distribution width (PDW) and platelet-large cell ratio (P-LCR) in HUA patients were higher than that in the normal group (P < 0.01), there was no statistically significant difference in platelet count, plateletcrit (PCT), mean platelet volume (MPV) between the two groups. There was positive correlation between serum uric acid and levels of GMP-140, PAF, P-LCR and PDW, respectively (r = 0.667, 0.879, 0.310, 0.460, P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Multivariate stepwise regression analysis revealed that serum uric acid, creatinine, P-LCR, urea nitrogen contributed to GMP-140 level (adjusted R(2) = 0.822). Serum uric acid and LDL-C also contributed to PAF level (adjusted R(2) = 0.451). It is concluded that a close relationship exists between HUA and the change of platelet function, and HUA plays a certain role in cardiovascular disease thrombosis complications.

Expression of EPOR on acute leukemia cells and its clinical significance / 中国实验血液学杂志

This study was aimed to explore the expression of erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) on acute leukemia cells and its clinical significance. Bone marrow of 40 patients with acute leukemia (AL) and 24 patients with normal bone marrow as control group were collected. Samples came from outpatients and inpatients in our hospital. EPOR mRNA was detected by reverse transcription-PCR. The results showed that there was EPOR expression on AL cells, the expression rate was 57.5%, and the average expression level (Gray value) was 0.3549 ± 0.2800, but both were lower than that in control group (p < 0.05). There was no significant statistic difference of expression rate between acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (p > 0.05), and expression level of AML EPOR was higher than that of ALL (p < 0.05). It is concluded that there is EPOR expression on AL cells, while the expression rate and expression level are lower than those in control group (p < 0.05). There is no significant statistic difference of the expression rate between AML and ALL (p > 0.05), and the expression level of AML EPOR is higher than that of ALL (p < 0.05).

Plasma suPAR level in patients with multiple myeloma / 中国实验血液学杂志

To investigate the changes of plasma suPAR level in patients with multiple myeloma, ELISA was used to detect plasma suPAR level, and routine examination was performed for other clinical indexes in 26 multiple myeloma patients. The results showed that plasma suPAR level in patients was 4.31+/-1.67 ng/ml, which was obviously higher than that in control group (1.87+/-0.27 ng/ml) (p<0.01). Plasma suPAR level in IgM subtype patients was 6.18+/-3.61 ng/ml, which was highest among all the subtypes; the plasma suPAR levels in non-secretion subtype, IgG and IgA subtype were 4.43+/-1.55 ng/ml, 4.00+/-0.95 ng/ml and 3.50+/-1.60 ng/ml respectively. The plasma suPAR levels in all subtypes were higher than that in control group, but there was no differences between these subtypes. SuPAR level was correlated with the blood sedimentation rate, creatinine level and hemoglobin level, plasma cell ratio and M protein level. It is concluded that the change of plasma suPAR level in multiple myeloma contributes to predict the development and prognosis of the disease.

Expression of CD133 in bone marrow cells of patients with leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome / 中国实验血液学杂志

To explore the relationship between the expression of CD133 and pathogenesis of leukemia and MDS, immunocytochemistry method was used to examine the expression of CD133 in bone marrow cells of patients with leukemia and MDS. The results showed that the positive rate of CD133 in 41 acute leukemia patients was 51.2%. The expression of CD133 in AML patients (16/29, 55.2%) was significantly higher than that in control group (2/15, 13.3%). There was no significant difference in CD133 expression between CML and control group. The positive rate of CD133 in 9 patients with MDS was 55.56% (5/9). There was no significant difference between MDS and normal control. The expression of CD133 in all leukemia cells with CD34(+) was higher than that in leukemia cells with CD34(-), and there was significant difference in expression of CD133 between them (P < 0.05). The expression of CD133 had no relationship with the clinical prognostic factors such as sex, age, the percentage of leukemic cells in peripheral blood and in bone marrow, WBC counts, hemoglobin concentration, platelet counts and LDH level. It is concluded that the expression of CD133 in bone marrow cells of patients with AML is higher than that in control group. The expression of CD133 is significantly correlated with the expression of CD34. The high expression of CD133 may be an adverse prognostic factor in acute leukemia.