Abstract：Objective The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is associated with the pathogenesis and prognosis of solid tumors, however its relationship to childhood acute leukemia has not yet been identified. This study determined the expression of VEGF and its receptors in children with acute leukemia in order to study their relationships to the activity of childhood acute leukemia.Methods The mRNA of VEGF, and its receptors Flt-1 and KDR were detected in bone marrow mononuclear cells by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and the plasma VEGF levels were measured using immunoasssay in 21 children with initial or recurrent untreated acute leukemia and 20 leukemia children in complete remission. The bone marrow samples from 5 healthy volunteer children and plasma samples from 20 healthy children were used as the controls.Results VEGF and its receptors were not expressed in the samples from healthy children. KDR mRNA expression was not detected in either healthy or leukemia children. The VEGF mRNA was expressed in 90% of patients with initial/recurrent acute leukemia, which was higher than in patients in complete remission (30%; P<0.001) and healthy children (P<0.001). The patients with acute leukemia also had a significantly higher Flt-1 mRNA expression level (86%) than patients in complete remission (15%; P<0.001) and healthy children (P<0.001). There was no difference in the expression levels of VEGF and Flt-1 between patients in complete remission and healthy children. The plasma VEGF concentration of initial/recurrent patients (405±270 pg/mL) was much higher than that of patients in complete remission (136± 98 pg/mL; P<0.05) and normal controls (91±41 pg/mL; P< 0.01). There was no difference in the plasma VEGF concentrations between the patients in complete remission and healthy children. Conclusions The expression of VEGF and the receptor (Flt-1) may play an important role in the development of childhood leukemia.
LI Li,XIE Xiao-Tian,LIANG Ai-Bin et al. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors in bone marrow and plasma of children with acute leukemia[J]. CJCP, 2005, 7(1): 31-33.
