Elevated blood MxA protein levels in children with newly diagnosed B-ALL: A prospective case-control study

Abstract

Background/Aim: Although leukemia is thought to be triggered or initiated by viral infections, it is not clear which viruses are the causative agents for which stage of the disease. Previous studies have shown that the MxA protein is expressed from blood mononuclear cells in reply to inducement of type I interferons in viral infections. Viral infections may trigger childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), and the hypothesis of this study was the detection of the presence of viral infection by measuring MxA expression in blood mononuclear cells of recently diagnosed pediatric B-ALL patients as a surrogate viral marker. Methods: This study consisted two groups; the study group consisted of 30 newly diagnosed B-ALL and the control group consisted of 29 healthy asymptomatic children of similar age. Proven bacterial infection and COVID-19 PCR positivity were exclusion criteria. Bacterial culture of peripheral blood, complete blood count, plasma CRP levels and whole blood MxA levels detected by ELISA (Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay) method were taken. Results: The patients’ mean age was 7.42 years in the leukemia group (previously mentioned as study group) and 7.25 years in the control group. Routine serologic studies for newly diagnosed leukemia patients (CMV, EBV VCA and Hepatitis B IgM, anti-HCV and anti-HIV) were negative in all patients without any bacterial infection detected. The MxA levels were found significantly higher in children with B-ALL than in control group (5.84 (2.18-199.38) and 2.45 (1.17-88.65) ngr/ml, respectively, with P/g,""); st = st.replace(//g,""); st = st.replace(/<\/strong>/g,""); st = st.replace(/ /g,""); let title = "Background/Aim:"; if(st.includes(title)){ st = st.replace(title, ""+title+" "); } else{ title = "Aim:"; st = st.replace(title, ""+title+""); } let titles = ["Methods:", "Conclusion:", "Results:"]; titles.forEach((title, ndx) => { //console.log(title); st = st.replace(title, " "+title+""); }); //console.log(st); innerHTML = ''+st+''; }); Downloads Download data is not yet available. References Inaba H, Greaves M, Mullighan CG. Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Lancet. 2013;381:1943-55. Whitehead TP, Metayer C, Wiemels JL, Singer AW, Miller MD. Childhood Leukemia and Primary Prevention. Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care. 2016 Oct;46(10):317-52. Metayer C, Colt JS, Buffler PA, Reed HD, Selvin S, Crouse V, et al. Exposure to herbicides in house dust and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology. 2013 Jul;23(4):363–70. Carlos-Wallace FM, Zhang L, Smith MT, Rader G, Steinmaus C. Parental, In Utero, and Early-Life Exposure to Benzene and the Risk of Childhood Leukemia: A Meta-Analysis. Am J Epidemiol. 2016 Jan 1;183(1):1–14. Filippini T, Heck JE, Malagoli C, Del Giovane C, Vinceti M. A review and meta-analysis of outdoor air pollution and risk of childhood leukemia. J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev. 2015;33(1):36-66. Greenland S, Sheppard AR, Kaune WT, Poole C, Kelsh MA. A pooled analysis of magnetic fields, wire codes, and childhood leukemia. Childhood Leukemia-EMF Study Group. Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass). 2000 Nov 11;(6):624–34. Petridou E, Ntouvelis E, Dessypris N, Terzidis A, Trichopoulos D, Childhood Hematology-Oncology Group. Maternal diet and acute lymphoblastic leukemia in young children. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005 Aug;14(8):1935–39. Buckley JD, Buckley CM, Ruccione K, Sather HN, Waskerwitz MJ, Woods WG, Robison LL. Epidemiological characteristics of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia. Analysis by immunophenotype. The Childrens Cancer Group. Leukemia. 1994 May;8(5):856-64. Chan LC, Lam TH, Li CK, Lau YL, Li CK, Yuen HL, Lee CW, Ha SY, Yuen PM, Leung NK, Patheal SL, Greaves MF, Alexander FE. Is the timing of exposure to infection a major determinant of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in Hong Kong? Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2002 Apr;16(2):154-65. Ward G. The infective theory of acute leukemia. Br J Child Dis. 1917;14:10–20. Greaves MF. Speculations on the cause of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia. 1988 Feb;2(2):120-5. Kinlen L. Evidence for an infective cause of childhood leukaemia: comparison of a Scottish new town with nuclear reprocessing sites in Britain. Lancet. 1988 Dec 10;2(8624):1323-7. Crouch S, Lightfoot T, Simpson J, Smith A, Ansell P, Roman E. Infectious illness in children subsequently diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: modeling the trends from birth to diagnosis. Am J Epidemiol. 2012 Sep 1;176(5):402-8. Chang JS, Tsai CR, Tsai YW, Wiemels JL. Medically diagnosed infections and risk of childhood leukaemia: a population-based case-control study. International journal of epidemiology. 2012 Aug;41(4):1050-9. Fidanza M, Seif AE, DeMicco A, Rolf N, Jo S, Yin B, et al. Inhibition of precursor B-cell malignancy...