Title:BCR-ABL Transcript Level as Compared to LDH and Uric Acid Among Chronic Myeloid Leukemic Patients
Volume: 16
Issue: 3
Author(s): Temesgen Sisay Hailemariam, Mohammed Mehdi*, Samuel Kinde, Daniel Seifu and Abebe Edao
Affiliation:
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa,Ethiopia
Keywords:
BCR-ABL, blood cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, LDH, uric acid, real-time polymerase chain reaction.
Abstract:
Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia is characterized by the presence of the Philadelphia
chromosome, which is caused by the breakpoint cluster region-Abelson fusion or joined gene.
A high concentration of BCR-ABL transcripts level can strongly forecast cytogenetic and hematologic
reversion in CML patients. However, the molecular test for BCR-ABL is costly and hardly
available in developing countries with low and middle-income. Owing to this, it is required to examine
other cost-effective and best diagnostic (prognostic) biomarkers.
Objective: The present study aimed to estimate the total LDH and uric acid level as compared to
BCR-ABL transcript level among treated and treatment-naive Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML)
patients.
Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study design was used to include eighty-one (81) CML patients
tested for BCR-ABL by GeneXpert RT-PCR transcript level at Tikur Anbessa Specialized
Hospital. The current study correlates LDH with BCR-ABL and hematological parameters using
the spearman correlation, Mann-Whitney U test, and roc curve data analysis tool.
Results: A total of 81 CML patients were assayed; 46(56.8%) of them were in the medically treated
group, and the remaining 35 (43.2%) were treatment-naive patients. Significant positive correlations
were observed between LDH and BCR-ABL (r=0.79, P<0.001).The correlation coefficient
value of uric acid (r=0.295, p<0.008) with BCR-ABL showed a weak correlation between the two
test parameters. There was a statistically noteworthy (p<0.05) difference in the median level of
BCR-ABL and LDH among patients in the treatment group (median=21%, 350 U/L) and the treatment-
naive group (median=57%, 1246 U/L), respectively. For uric acid, there was no statistically
significant (p<0.542) difference between the study group. The AUC for LDH, Basophil, and WBC
was 0.881, 0.889, and 0.748, respectively, which showed better performance for the follow-up of
patients with CML than uric acid (0.695) and platelets (0.70).
Conclusion: The CML LDH value strongly correlated with BCR-ABL transcript level, whereas
uric acid was weakly correlated with BCR-ABL. Hence, in parallel with the BRC-ABL transcript
level, these findings could be a patent for confirming the capability of LDH as an alternative cost--
effective diagnostic, prognostic biomarker, and a novel therapeutic target in CML disease.
