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Akram Z, Ahmed P, Kajigaya S, Satti TM, Satti HS, Chaudhary QUN, Gutierrez-Rodrigues F, Ibanez PF, Feng X, Mahmood SK, Ghafoor T, Shahbaz N, Khan MA, Sultan A. Epidemiological, clinical and genetic characterization of aplastic anemia patients in Pakistan. Ann Hematol 2018; 98:301-312. [PMID: 30426156 DOI: 10.1007/s00277-018-3542-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2018] [Accepted: 11/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Aplastic anemia (AA) is the most serious non-malignant blood disorder in Pakistan, ranked second in prevalence, after thalassemia. We investigated various epidemiological, clinical, and genetic factors of AA in a Pakistani cohort of 214 patients reporting at our hospital between June 2014 and December 2015. A control group of 214 healthy subjects was included for comparison of epidemiological and clinical features. Epidemiological data revealed 2.75-fold higher frequency of AA among males. A single peak of disease onset was observed between ages 10 and 29 years followed by a steady decline. AA was strongly associated with lower socioeconomic profile, rural residence, and high rate of consanguineous marriages. Serum granulocyte colony-stimulating factor and thrombopoietin levels were significantly elevated in AA patients, compared to healthy controls (P < 0.0001), while there was no statistical significance in other nine cytokine levels screened. Allele frequencies of DRB1*15 (56.8%) and DQB1*06 (70.3%) were predominantly high in AA patients. Ten mutations were found in TERT and TERC genes, including two novel mutations (Val526Ala and Val777Met) in exons 3 and 7 of TERT gene. Despite specific features of the AA cohort, this study suggests that epidemiologic and etiologic factors as well as host genetic predisposition exclusively or cooperatively trigger AA in Pakistan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zaineb Akram
- Cell Biology Section, Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Building 10-CRC, Room 3E-5140, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA. .,Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (AFBMTC), Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan. .,Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan.
| | - Parvez Ahmed
- Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (AFBMTC), Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan
| | - Sachiko Kajigaya
- Cell Biology Section, Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Building 10-CRC, Room 3E-5140, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Tariq Mahmood Satti
- Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (AFBMTC), Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan
| | - Humayoon Shafique Satti
- Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (AFBMTC), Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan
| | - Qamar Un Nisa Chaudhary
- Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (AFBMTC), Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan
| | - Fernanda Gutierrez-Rodrigues
- Cell Biology Section, Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Building 10-CRC, Room 3E-5140, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Pilar F Ibanez
- Cell Biology Section, Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Building 10-CRC, Room 3E-5140, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Xingmin Feng
- Cell Biology Section, Hematology Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Building 10-CRC, Room 3E-5140, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Syed Kamran Mahmood
- Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (AFBMTC), Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan
| | - Tariq Ghafoor
- Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (AFBMTC), Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan
| | - Nighat Shahbaz
- Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (AFBMTC), Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan
| | - Mehreen Ali Khan
- Armed Forces Bone Marrow Transplant Centre (AFBMTC), Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan
| | - Aneesa Sultan
- Department of Biochemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 44000, Pakistan
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