[Expression of CD44, CD87 and CD123 in Acute Leukemia and Its Correlation with Cellular Immunity].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression of CD44, CD87 and CD123 in acute leukemia and its correlation with cellular immune markers. METHODS: A total of 166 patients with acute leukemia (AL) admitted from May 2014 to February 2017 were enrolled in AL groups. Among these patients, 100 patients suffered from acute myeloid leukemia, 50 patients suffered from acute lymphoid leukemia, and 16 patients showed B/medullary phenotype. At the same time 50 patients with non-acute leukemia were enrolled in the control group. 5 ml of fasting venous blood collected from the patients in each group, and the percentage of CD44, CD87 and CD123 cells was determined by three-color flow cytometry. Symptomatic chemotherapy was given to the patients with confirmed acute leukemia, and the remission was evaluated after 2 treatmen courses. The Complete remission (CR) was recorded and the percentage of CD44, CD87 and CD123 cells under different curative efficacy were recorded. The correlation of the prognosis patients with CD44, CD87 and CD123 was analyzed by SPSS Pearson correlation analysis software. RESULTS: The positive rates of CD44, CD87 and CD123 in AL group were all higher than those in the control group (P＜0. 05). The positive rates of CD44 and CD123 in acute myeloid leukemia group were higher than those in acute lymphoblastic leukemia group and B/myeloid phenotype group (P＜0. 05). The positive rate of CD44 in acute lymphoid leukemia group was higher than that in B/medullary double phenotype group (P＜0.05). The treatment in the patients of AL group was successfully completed. 132 patients reachel to CR and 34 patients to PR+NR after 2 courses. The positive rates of CD44, CD87 and CD123 in CR patients were lower than those in PR+NR patients (P＜0.05). The results of SPSS Pearson correlation analysis showed that the prognosis of patients with acute leukemia negatively correlated with CD44 and CD87 (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of CD44, CD87 and CD123 in different phenotype of acute leukemia are different, which correlateds with prognosis. The determination of CD44, CD87 and CD123 can be used to evaluate the prognosis of patients for the reference of clinical treatment.

TET2 and MEG3 promoter methylation is associated with acute myeloid leukemia in a Hainan population.

The promoter of MEG3, which encodes the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) MEG3, is often hypermethylated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Additionally, the Tet methylcytosine dioxygenase 2 gene (TET2) is frequently inactivated, which can lead to impaired DNA methylation and promote AML development. We examined the association between TET2 and MEG3 promoter hypermethylation in Hainan patients with AML. The expression of MEG3, TET2, miR-22-3p, and miR-22-5p was assessed in bone marrow samples from AML patients and healthy controls using real-time quantitative PCR. Using Sequenom MassARRAY technology, we compared MEG3 promoter methylation in AML patients and healthy controls. MEG3 expression was lower in AML patients than in the controls (P = 0.136). Moreover, there was greater methylation of MEG3 promoter in the AML patients than the controls (P < 0.05). Methylation of the MEG3 promoter correlated negatively with TET2 expression (P < 0.05, r < 0). Likewise there was a negative correlation between TET2 activity and MEG3 promoter methylation (P < 0.05, r < 0). These results suggest that hypermethylation of the MEG3 promoter in AML may result from decreased TET2 activity. These data provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying AML development and progression.

The spectrum of α- and ß-thalassemia mutations of the Li people in Hainan Province of China.

This study examines the frequency and spectrum of α- and ß-thalassemia (thal) mutations of the Li people in Hainan Province of China. We have analyzed by genotyping a sample of 8600 subjects of the Li people and found that 53.45% subjects have only α-thal mutations with high frequencies of -α(4.2) and -α(3.7), but fewer --(SEA) mutation; 3.83% have ß-thal mutations all identified to be 41/42 (-TCTT); whereas 7.99% carry both α-thal and ß-thal mutations. We also examined 9800 subjects of the Han people, and the result showed 12.16% subjects have only α-thal mutations with --(SEA) and -α(3.7) the most frequent mutation types, 6.11% have only ß-thal mutations of 7 types, whereas 4.85% carry both α-thal and ß-thal mutations. Our study demonstrated that the Li people in Hainan province have a high incidence of -α(4.2) and -α(3.7) thalassemia, low frequencies of α-thal -(SEA), and a novel ß mutation, 41/42 (-TCTT). We provide the complete spectrum of α-thal and ß-thal mutations and a strategy for accurate molecular diagnostic testing in the Li people in Hainan Province of Southern China.