Genetic Polymorphism Study of IDH 1/2 and TET2 Genes in Acute Myeloid leukemia Patients.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Isocitrate dehydrogenase genes (IDH1 and IDH2) encode important enzymes that play pivotal role in cellular metabolism. Mutations in TET2 have been demonstrated to contribute to DNA hypermethylation, either expression of mutant IDH1/2 or TET2 resulted in poor cell differentiation and epigenetic alterations in hematopoietic cells, suggesting a sharing of the oncogenetic impact. In this study, we investigated the frequency of genetic alterations in IDH1/2 and TET2 genes in Egyptian cohort of adult patients with de novo AML, and the association of IDH1/2 and TET2 genetic Polymorphism with AML prognostic criteria and explore prognostic molecular markers with clinical outcome. METHODS: The SNP assay for IDH1, IDH2 and TET2 genes polymorphism tested with RT-PCR included three polymorphisms that are rs121913500, rs121913503, and rs2454206 respectively, were tested on 141 adult Egyptian patients fulfilling the AML diagnostic criteria. RESULT: The incidence of IDH mutations is 11/141 (7.8%); 5/141 (3.5%) IDH1 mutant and 6/141 (4.3%) IDH2 mutant. And the incidence of TET2 mutations is 72/141 (51.1%); 15/141 (10.7%) homozygous mutation and 57/141 (40.4%) heterozygous mutations. IDH1, IDH2 and TET2 genes mutations with DFS and OS in AML patients were not significantly correlated. CONCLUSIONS: TET2 SNP is common in Egyptian AML patients. Further research on IDH, TET2 and their relationships to other hematological malignancies and leukemogenesis transformation is advised and a study of a larger number of cases is needed for potential statistical significance.

Occult hepatitis C virus infection in patients with malignant lymphoproliferative disorders.

Despite the link between HCV and malignant lymphoproliferative disorders has been established, the association between occult hepatitis C virus infection and malignant lymphoproliferative disorders remains obscure. The present study intended to identify the possible association between occult HCV infection and malignant lymphoproliferative disorders. Newly diagnosed patients with LPDs were screened for the presence of HCV-RNA in both plasma and PBMCs. PBMCs of the subjects were also, examined by transmission and immuno-electron microscopy. LPD patients showed a high percentage of HCV infection (71.9%): OCI-HCV (37.5%) and HCV (34.38%). Meanwhile, 28.13% of LPD patients did not show any evidence of HCV infection. Ultrastructural examination of PBMCs revealed the presence of intracytoplasmic vacuoles enclosing viral like particles, which were less prominent in occult HCV patients. The possibility of occult HCV should be considered in patients with LPDs which can be helpful in the management of the treatment protocol in order to set up a balance between the control of the tumor progression and minimizing post chemotherapy complications related to HCV infection.