Lack of Correlation Between the CCR5-Δ32 Mutation and Acute Myeloid Leukemia in Iranian Patients.

Chemokines and their receptors are crucially important in the pathogenesis of acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). The CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is a specific chemokine receptor for CC chemokine ligand 3 (CCL3), CCL4 and CCL5 which all play key roles in identifying cancer properties and localization of leukemia cells. It has been demonstrated that the known mutation in CCR5 gene (CCR5-Δ32) leads to mal-expression of the receptor and affect its function. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of CCR5-Δ32 mutation within Iranian AML patients. In this study, blood samples were obtained from 60 AML patients and 300 healthy controls. The CCR5-Δ32 mutation was evaluated using Gap-PCR technique. Our results showed that CCR5-Δ32 mutation was not found in the patients, while three out of the controls had hetrozygotic form of this mutation. The rest of studied samples had the wild form of the gene. According to these findings, it can probably be concluded that the CCR5-Δ32 is not associated with susceptibility to AML in Iranian patients.

CXC chemokines CXCL1, CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL12 are variably expressed in patients with sickle cell disease and carriers: are they predictive tools for disease complications?

BACKGROUND: Sickle cell hemoglobinopathies are amongst a group of genetic disorders resulting from a single base-pair DNA mutation at the beta chain of hemoglobin. Chemokines and cytokines play a part in the pathogenesis of inflammatory and infectious diseases. They are also involved in balancing angiogenesis/angiostasis processes to form new vascular networks. We aimed the present study to measure the circulating CXC chemokines CXCL1, CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL12 in the plasma of sickle cell patients (SCD). METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Kerman Special Disease Center and Rafsanjan Molecular Medicine Research Center during 2010 to 2011. Peripheral blood specimens were collected from 77 children with SCD and 70 controls. Serum samples were isolated and CXCL1, CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL12 were measured using ELISA. RESULTS: The findings of this study demonstrated that serum concentrations of CXCL1 and CXCL12 were elevated in SCD patients when compared with controls. Results also showed that the circulating levels of CXCL9 and CXCL10 were decreased in SCD patients in comparison to control subjects. However, we found increased levels of CXC chemokines in SCD patients suffering from pain crisis but the difference was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results of this study it can probably be concluded that the balance between angiogenesis/angiostasis CXC chemokines is an important predictive factor for initiation of complications in SCD patients. The elevated level of pro-inflammatory CXC chemokines may also be related to inflammatory responses associated with SCD complication.

Evaluation of circulating concentrations of CXCL1 (Gro-α), CXCL10 (IP-10) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) in ALL patients prior and post bone marrow transplantation.

The immune system plays an important role in the development of leukemia. CXC chemokines, as the molecular members of this system, are involved in the immune responses. Therefore, this study was designed to examine and compare the levels of CXCL1 (Gro-α), CXCL10 (IP-10) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) in ALL patients prior to and post bone marrow transplantation (BMT). In this experimental study, samples were obtained from ALL patients and controls, and subjected to ELISA for detection of chemokines. Demographic data were also collected by a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Our results showed that the serum levels of CXCL1 (Gro-α), CXCL10 (IP-10) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) were significantly increased in ALL patients compared to the controls. We also showed that the CXCL10 (IP-10) level was increased after BMT in ALL patients, while CXCL1 (Gro-α) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) were inversely decreased. Our results allow for the conclusion that CXCL1 (Gro-α), CXCL10 (IP-10) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) are important for the pathogenesis of ALL. Notably, these chemokines might be used as pivotal biological markers in the diagnosis of leukemia. Recombinant CXCL1 (Gro-α), CXCL10 (IP-10) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) may be applied as a therapeutic approach in the treatment of leukemia patients.