Clonal relationship between Hashimoto thyroiditis and thyroid lymphoma.

Background: Although Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) is a predisposing factor for B-lineage thyroid lymphoma, clonal B-cell populations in HT are rare.

Aim: To investigate whether there is a clonal relationship between HT and primary thyroid lymphoma.

Methods: Clonalilty and sequence similarity was determined by PCR followed by sequencing and comparing immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) gene rearrangement sequences to germline sequences and to each other.

Short nucleotide polymorphic insertions in the MCL-1 promoter affect gene expression.

We have recently reported novel short nucleotide (six and eighteen) polymorphic insertions, in the MCL-1 promoter and their association with higher mRNA and protein levels. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that these insertions directly affect MCL-1 gene expression. Haematopoietic and epithelial human cell lines were transfected with +0, +6, or +18 MCL-1 promoter fragments positioned upstream of the Firefly luciferase reporter gene.

G125A single-nucleotide polymorphism in the human BAX promoter affects gene expression.

Earlier we had reported a guanine to adenosine substitution at position 125 (G125A) in the BAX promoter, and its association with higher stage of the disease and failure to achieve complete response to treatment in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that G125A leads to a reduction in the transcription of the BAX gene and that this is a direct cause of altered BAX mRNA and protein expression. In lymphocytes of CLL patients, BAX mRNA expression was determined by RNase protection assay and Bax protein was detected by immunoblotting.

Clonal B cell populations in a minority of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Background: Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is a risk factor for thyroid lymphoma, and clonal B cell populations in HT support this link. The literature on B cell clonality in HT is controversial.

Aims: To identify clonal B cell populations in HT and to assess their usefulness in differentiating HT from mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma and predicting future development of lymphoma.

Prognostic significance of a short sequence insertion in the MCL-1 promoter in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Background: Mcl-1 protein contributes to the longevity of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells, and its higher expression has been associated with resistance to chemotherapy. We sought structural changes in the MCL-1 gene in CLL patients and associated these with clinical parameters of the disease.

Methods: The MCL-1 gene from peripheral blood lymphocytes from 58 CLL patients and 18 control subjects and from the RL and BC-3 lymphoma cell lines was sequenced.

Mcl-1 and Bcl-2/Bax ratio are associated with treatment response but not with Rai stage in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Although both Bcl-2/Bax ratio and Mcl-1 have been identified to be of clinical relevance in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), there is controversy regarding their role; further, their relative importance is not well delineated. Expression of Bcl-2, Bax, the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, and Mcl-1 in 51 consecutive previously untreated CLL patients and 16 controls was determined by Western blotting. Only 37 patients were treated, all with chlorambucil and prednisone initially.

Molecular detection of the G(-248)A BAX promoter nucleotide change in B cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.

Background: A novel single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), G(-248)A, in the 5' untranslated region of the BAX promoter and its association with reduced protein expression, progression beyond Rai stage 0, and treatment resistance in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) has been reported previously.

Aim: To develop a restriction enzyme analysis (REA) based method for routine detection of BAX promoter SNP in a clinical laboratory.

Methods: The BAX promoter was analysed in duplicate by REA and sequencing in 90 samples (from 45 patients with CLL, 43 controls, and two cell lines).

Posttransplant diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of "lymphomatoid granulomatosis" type.

The exact relationship between lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LyG) and posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs) is not clear. Both are observed in immunodeficient patients and are Epstein-Barr virus driven. These disorders are, however, considered distinct based upon the immune response elicited; LyG is T-cell rich while PTLDs are T-cell poor.

Association of a novel single nucleotide polymorphism, G(-248)A, in the 5'-UTR of BAX gene in chronic lymphocytic leukemia with disease progression and treatment resistance.

In B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) a high Bcl-2/Bax ratio contributes to death defiance. We sought to identify any genetic changes in the BAX as a possible mechanism for its altered expression in CLL. The BAX gene from the RL cell line and B-cells from 34 CLL patients and 25 controls were sequenced.

Hemoglobin-induced lipid peroxidation in anemia.

Changes were studied in processes of peroxide oxidation of lipid (LPO), such as neutral lipids and phospholipids, as related to the levels of hemoglobin (Hb) and its derivatives, methemoglobin (Met-Hb) and carboxyhemoglobin (CO-Hb) in erythrocytes and blood plasma of 33 patients with iron-deficiency anemia (IDA). It has been found out that in IDA, decline in the concentration of Hb correlates with augmentation of the content of Met-Hb (r = -0.670, P = 0.

Association between mutations of the follicle-stimulating-hormone receptor and repeated twinning.

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) has a role in folliculogenesis and spontaneous twinning. Using the candidate gene approach, we searched for mutations in the gene encoding the FSH receptor in a woman who had given birth to two sets of dizygotic twins without fertility treatment. We identified two linked mutations (Thr307Ala and Asn680Ser) that were closely associated with this phenotype.

Distinct B-cell clonal bands in Helicobacter pylori gastritis with lymphoid hyperplasia.

Helicobacter pylori (Hp)-associated gastritis is a risk factor for gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Clonal B-cell populations are present in both reactive and neoplastic MALT tissue, thus limiting their usefulness in the evaluation of gastric lymphoid infiltrates in endoscopic biopsy specimens. The aim of this study was to identify the presence of clonal B-cell populations in Hp-gastritis with MALT and to assess their usefulness in distinguishing reactive from malignant infiltrates.