Evaluation of the relationships between HLA-G 14 bp polymorphism and two acute leukemia in a Saudi population

The non-classical Human Leukocyte Antigen G (HLA-G) is an immunomodulatory molecule, with low polymorphism frequency and restricted tissue distribution. Its higher expression was associated with immunoinhibitory properties causing tolerance for cancer progression. The rs371194629 is a 14 bp insertion/deletion polymorphism (Ins/Del) in exon 8 of the 3′ untranslated region (3′-UTR) of the HLA-G gene, has been associated with the stability and the expression level of HLA-G mRNA. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between the HLA-G 14-bp Ins/Del polymorphism and two common blood cancers including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in a population from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The study groups include 145 patients diagnosed for ALL, 98 patients diagnosed for AML and 115 healthy individuals. For all these individuals, the 14 bp Ins/Del polymorphism was genotyped using PCR methodology. mRNA gene expression of the HLA-G was assessed using quantitative RT-PCR. Logistic regression model analysis for HLA-G 14 bp Ins/Del polymorphism shows no statistically significant correlation with AML and ALL. For the HLA-G mRNA expression, while slightly increased level among healthy individuals compared to patients was observed, no statistically significant differences were obtained. Although our results did not show association between HLA-G with the two leukemia cancer diseases, the role of HLA-G gene awaits further investigations including large number of subjects with more clinical data combinations.