Interleukin-17F gene polymorphism in predisposition to acute myeloid leukemia in Egypt: its connection to interleukin-17 serum level

Purpose The interleukin-17 (IL-17) family of cytokines play vital roles in the proinflammatory processes and in cancer development, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Moreover, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) alter protein expression and provoke malignancy. IL-17A has been thoroughly studied in this context but IL-17F has received less attention. The present study investigated the relation between IL-17F SNP and the incidence of AML in Egyptian patients, together with their clinicolaboratory features, and response to initial treatment. We also estimated serum IL-17 levels in AML patients carrying different IL-17F genotypes. Patients and methods This study enrolled 40 newly diagnosed AML cases and 20 controls. IL-17F rs763780 SNP was genotyped by real-time PCR, and serum IL-17 level was measured by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Results IL-17F polymorphic alleles (homozygous wild AA, heterozygous mutant AG) elicited no statistically significant difference between cases and controls. However, the AG allele was found in 10% of AML patients and in none of the controls, showing higher frequency in AML. IL-17 serum level was significantly higher in cases than controls. The ROC curve reported a cut off 35 ng/l for serum IL-17 to discriminate cases and controls sensitively. The bone marrow blast percentages were significantly higher in AG cases and positively correlated with serum IL-17. Conclusion IL-17 SNP has no significant association with the risk of AML incidence in our study, while IL-17 serum level was significantly higher in AML patients than in the compared controls.