The Association of Apolipoprotein A1 Gene Polymorphisms with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia in Tehran Province

 Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a cancer of the lymphoid line of blood cells. It is characterized by the development of large numbers of immature lymphocytes. It is one of the most common cancers among children. Molecular markers can play an important role in determining the nature of leukemia-related tumors and can be used as a diagnostic adjuvant along with precise pathological methods. Some research has shown that apolipoprotein A1 gene polymorphisms were associated with the formation of various types of diseases.

 This study aimed to evaluate the association of ApoA1 gene insertion/deletion polymorphisms with ALL disease.

 The salting-out method was used for DNA extraction from the blood samples. Questionnaires were prepared with the approval of a demographic data expert. The genotype distribution and allele frequencies for the ApoA1 gene insertion/deletion polymorphisms were determined by Gap-polymerase chain reaction (Gap-PCR) to compare patient’s cases with ALL disease and healthy subjects. This case-control study was performed by odds ratio (OR, with a confidence interval of 0.95) to reveal the association of these polymorphisms with ALL disease.

 In this study, two ApoA1 gene polymorphisms, including II and DD genotypes, were observed, which II genotype had the highest frequency in both groups of healthy subjects and patients. However, no significant differences were found between the two groups (P > 0.05). ALL and both genotypes had a higher frequency in males than females. Despite the high frequency of both genotypes in males, there were no significant differences between healthy subjects and patients in terms of age and sex (P > 0.05).

 Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that ApoA1 gene polymorphisms were not associated with ALL disease. It was not effective in the formation or exacerbation of it in this population. Also, it could not be identified as a prognostic marker. It should be noted that these findings are the first report of the degree of association of ApoA1 polymorphisms with ALL.