O1 Regulation of genes by telomere length over long distances

Background: Associations betweenIKZF1gene variants and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) was recently reported. We examined whether the commonIKZF1polymorphisms rs4132601 T/G and rs111978267 A/G are associated with ALL among a Tunisian pediatric cohort.Methods: This case-control study involved 170 patients with ALL and 150 control subjects. SNP genotyping was performed by TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assay.Results: The minor allele G ofIKZF1gene polymorphism rs4132601 T/G was significantly higher in ALL cases than in control subjects (P = 0.029), with 1.54-fold increased risk of ALL. The association of rs4132601 with ALL was seen under co-dominant (P = 0.009), recessive (P = 0.006), and additive (P = 0.027) genetic models, of which the co-dominant (P = 0.027) and recessive (P = 0.027) association remained significant after adjusting for covariates, and False Discovery Rate correction. In contrast, no association was noted for rs111978267 variant. Two-locus (rs4132601-rs11978267)IKZF1haplotype analysis demonstrated association of GA (P = 0.053), with increased ALL risk [OR (95% CI) = 1.58 (1.00–2.51)], which remained significant after controlling for key covariates [aP = 0.046; aOR (95% CI) = 1.61 (1.01–2.57)].Conclusion: We demonstrated the association ofIKZF1polymorphism rs4132601 T/G with increased risk of ALL among Tunisian pediatric cohort, with altered phenotypic changes among ALL patients.

The severity of MeV infection has been greatly reduced by the development of a live attenuated vaccine, which has been incorporated into vaccination programs in many countries. However, poor access to health facilities, and above all, the increase in anti-vaccination movements, has prevented the achievement of sufficient vaccination coverage. In outbreak scenarios, a rapid and transportable method can improve differential diagnosis, including removing ambiguity in suspected measles cases, contacts, or a cohort. In response to the need, we have developed a new RT-qPCR-based MeV detection assay. The LOD of the developed assay was determined on different PCR machines and the higher threshold was 1–1.2 10³ copies/mL. The joint diagnostic sensitivity of ELISA and RT-PCR (used together) was 100%, and used combinedly, these two methods enable detection of all measles-infected persons, which is extremely important for controlling contagion and spread of infection. During the clinical validation of the assay on 200 clinical samples from measles-suspected cases using ELISA, 157 samples showed a positive result, while 163 positive cases were confirmed by the RT-qPCR assay. The concordance between the two techniques was 93%. According to our results, the real-time RT-PCR approach used in our study is more sensitive and appears to be a more promising method for measles diagnosis during early stages of the disease, likely before the rise of specific IgM antibodies detected by ELISA.