The Role of miRNA-150 in Newly Diagnosed and Treated Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Background: One form of cancer that affects the bone marrow and blood is called acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It is distinguished by the myeloblasts, or aberrant white blood cells, growing quickly and interfering with the formation of healthy blood cells. The small non-coding RNA molecule known as microRNA-150 (miR-150) is involved in the control of gene expression in several biological functions, including hematopoiesis, the process that creates new blood cells. miR-150 has been studied in relation to acute AML for its possible functions in leukemogenesis and normal hematopoiesis. Objective: assess the gene expression miRNA150 in AML patients. Materials and methods: In this study, 35 patients aged between 15 to 95 years old in the pre-and post-treatment cohorts and 35 healthy volunteers were included. The samples were obtained from Medical City's Baghdad Teaching Hospital. Results: The age group of AML patients did not significantly differ from the control group (P≥0.05). The expression of the miR-150 gene was downregulated in the untreated AML patients while it was upregulated in the treated AML patients in comparison with the healthy control group.Conclusions: The analysis indicated that there was no significant difference in the age distribution between patients infected with Acute myeloid leukemia and the control group. miR-150 expression was downregulated in untreated AML patients while it was upregulated in treated AML patients. Consequently, miR-150 might be regarded as an AML prognostic marker.