Thymidylate Synthase 2T Gene Polymorphism is a Risk Factor for Acute Leukemia

DOI: 10.26650/experimed.2018.18005 Objective: The enzyme thymidylate synthase (TS) in the folate metabolism catalyzes the conversion of deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP) to deoxythymidine monophosphate (dTMP). It provides a certain balance of deoxynucleotides required for DNA synthesis in the cell. Inhibition of the enzyme showed that abnormal chromosomal breakage and apoptosis occurred. The enzyme, which is necessary for proliferating cells, also targeted different cancer drugs. The TS gene at chromosome 18p11.32 contains the polymorphic repeat region just upstream of the ATG starting site. This polymorphism, consisting of double or triple repeats of the 28-base length sequence, has been shown to differ in gene expression in vitro and in vivo. Similar studies have investigated the relationship between many types of cancer and cancer drug use and TS polymorphism. In this study, the role of TS promoter polymorphism in acute leukemia etiology (acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia) in the Turkish population was investigated. Material and Method: For this purpose, a pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) case admitted to our unit (n=110) and agorose gel electrophoresis after PCR using region-specific primers with DNA obtained from pediatric and adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (n=126) TS polymorphic alleles consisting of two or three repetitions were determined. The results were compared with the results of healthy control (n=133) cases, and we questioned whether TS gene polymorphism is a risk factor. Results: Statistical analyses were performed using the Fisher exact test in the program SPSS, and the 2T/2T genotype was a risk factor in the formation of ALL (p=0.048). Conclusion: It was observed that other genotypes did not have a risk for ALL and AML formations