VEGF and CTGF mRNA Levels in Marrow Before and After Therapy for Acute Leukemia

Objective To investigate the vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C), connective tissue growth factor(CTGF) mRNA expression and their changes before and after treatment in bone marrow of patients with acute leukemia, and their clinical significance and interaction in the occurrence and development of leukemia. Methods Seventy-one patients with primary acute leukemia were taken as the treatment group and 30 iron-deficiency anemia patients were taken as the control group. We collected mononuclear cells from the bone marrow. Real-time PCR method was used to detect the expression levels of VEGF-C and CTGF mRNA. Results VEGF-C and CTGF mRNA expression in bone marrow of patients with primary acute leukemia were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). They are positively correlated with each other, r=0.709, P<0.05. After one cycle of treatment, the expression of VEGF-C and CTGF mRNA levels in complete remission and partial remission patients were decreased significantly, compared with those before treatment(P<0.05); there was no statistical significance between non-remission patients and those before treatment(P>0.05). In different proliferative degree of bone marrow groups and different extramedullary infiltration groups, the expression of VEGF-C and CTGF mRNA were statistically significant(P<0.05). Conclusion VEGF-C and CTGF have synergistic effect in the development of leukemia, and they are involved in the occurrence, invasion, metastasis, and associated with the prognosis of leukemia.