Diagnostic Value of miR-34a in Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients.

BACKGROUND

The current study aims to analyze the expression of miR-34a in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMCs) of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and its possible role in the development of leukemia.

METHODS

Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of miR-34a in bone marrow of 40 patients with initial treatment of AML, 22 patients with complete remission AML, 13 patients with refractory recurrence, 20 patients with non-hematological tumors and healthy persons. Pearson's correlation was performed to analyze the correlation between the expression level of miR-34a and clinical indicators in patients.

RESULTS

The expression of miR-34a in the initial treatment group, complete remission group and refractory relapse group of AML patients was higher than that in the control group. In addition, the expression of miR-34a in the complete remission group was higher than that in the initial treatment group. Moreover, the expression of miR-34a in the refractory relapse group was lower than that in the initial treatment group. The expression level of miR-34a in initial treatment AML group was negatively correlated with the number of bone marrow primary immature cells, but not with the number of peripheral blood leukocytes, platelet count, hemoglobin content, age, gender, and chromosomal abnormalities.

CONCLUSIONS

The expression of miR-34a in bone marrow mononuclear cells of patients with AML was down-regulated and related to tumor load. It may play an important role in the occurrence and development of leukemia and may become a new molecular marker for the diagnosis of AML.