Relationship Between the Drug Responsiveness of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Iraqi Patients and Gene Expression of Drug Resistance ABCB1 and ABCG2 Genes

Abstract

Resistance of the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to chemotherapy is a major clinical problem resulting in poor patients’ prognosis. One of the known multidrug resistance (MDR) mechanisms in AML is the overexpression of efflux pumps belonging to the superfamily of ATP- Binding Cassette (ABC) transporters such as ABCB1 and ABCG2. For this purpose, the present study investigated the gene expression of these genes using real-time PCR.  Blood samples of AML Iraqi patients were collected at diagnosis and after induction therapy to investigate the correlation of ABC genes expression and response to chemotherapy. Results reveled low expression of ABCB1 and ABCG2 at diagnosis when compared with those after treatment and healthy subjects suggesting that the gene expression of these genes could be considered as a marker of AML regression.