Objective: To investigate the relationship between the expression of cyclin A and drug resistance in patients with adult acute leukemias.
Methods: The mRNA expressions of cyclin A, mdr1, Topo II alpha and bcl-2 were measured in 64 patients with adult acute leukemia (AL) and 20 normal subjects by semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
Results: (1) The cyclin A and Topo II alpha mRNA expression levels in the treatment resistant group were significantly lower than that in the sensitive group (P < 0.01). There was no cyclin A mRNA expression in the 20 normal subjects under the same experiment condition. (2) The mdr1 and bcl-2 mRNA expression levels in the resistant group were significantly higher than that in sensitive group (P < 0.01). (3) Cyclin A and Topo II alpha gene expression levels were positively correlated (r = 0.794, P = 0.000) in the 64 AL patients, and there was a negative correlation between the gene expression levels of cyclin A and mdr1 (r = -0.337, P = 0.029) in the drug resistant group. (4) Ten AL patients with low expressions of both cyclin A and Topo II alpha were all in the resistant group. Logistic regression of binary analysis showed a significant correlation between the low expression of cyclin A and drug resistance.
Conclusion: Low expression of cyclin A gene might be a unfavorable prognostic factor for patients with AL and measurement of both cyclin A and Topo II alpha gene expression would predict drug resistance for AL patients.