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Updated: Jul 16, 2026
Immunoglobulin Gene Sequence Analysis In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: From Patient Material To Sequence Interpretation
Published on: November 26, 2018
Analysis of the immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region gene expression in Iranian patients with chronic
M Hojjat Farsangi1, M Jeddi-Tehrani, R A Sharifian
1Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Insights
This study investigated immunoglobulin heavy chain variable (VH) gene usage in Iranian B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) patients. Results show distinct VH gene family profiles compared to Western populations, suggesting ethnic or environmental influences on B-CLL.
Area of Science:
- Hematology
- Immunogenetics
- Oncology
Background:
- B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is a common leukemia in the West but rare in Asia.
- Previous studies in Western populations identified non-random immunoglobulin heavy (VH) and light (VL) chain gene rearrangements in B-CLL.
- The VH gene expression profile in Asian B-CLL patients remains largely uncharacterized.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the frequency of VH gene family usage in Iranian B-CLL patients.
- To compare the VH gene usage profile in Iranian B-CLL patients with those from Western populations.
- To explore potential ethnic or environmental factors influencing B-CLL pathogenesis.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 59 Iranian B-CLL patients.
- Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was employed.
- VH gene families were identified using specific primers (VH1-VH7).
Main Results:
- VH3 was the most frequently expressed VH gene family (45.8%), followed by VH4 (32.2%), VH1 (18.6%), VH5 (1.7%), and VH6 (1.7%).
- VH2 and VH7 gene families showed no expression in the studied cohort.
- Iranian B-CLL patients exhibited lower representation of VH1 and VH2, and higher representation of VH4 compared to Western patients.
Conclusions:
- The VH gene usage profile in Iranian B-CLL patients differs significantly from Western cohorts.
- These findings suggest that ethnic and/or environmental factors may play a role in the initiation and development of B-CLL.
- Further research is warranted to elucidate the specific mechanisms underlying these observed ethnic variations in B-CLL.
Abstract:
B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) results from clonal expansion of phenotypically mature but functionally immature B-lymphocytes. The incidence of this type of leukemia is low in Asian countries, whereas it is the most frequent type of leukemia in the West. Previous investigations mainly conducted in Western populations have demonstrated non-random rearrangement of certain immunoglobulin variable region heavy (VH) and/or light (VL) chain genes in different groups of B-CLL patients. Little is known about the profile of VH gene expression in Asian patients. In the present study, we determined the frequency of VH gene family usage in 59 Iranian patients with B-CLL. VH gene family of patients was determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction using VH1-VH7 family specific primers. The most frequently expressed VH gene family was found to be VH3 (45.8%) followed by VH4 (32.2%), VH1 (18.6%), VH5 (1.7%) and VH6 (1.7%), with no expression of VH2 and VH7 gene families. The results indicate a lower representation of the VH1 and VH2 gene families and a higher representation of the VH4 gene family in Iranian B-CLL patients compared to Western patients, suggesting involvement of ethnic and/or environmental factors in B-CLL disease initiation.
