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Introduction: Leptin (LEP) and LEP receptor (LEPR) play roles in cancer progression. We evaluated LEP-2548G/A and LEPR 668 A/G variants in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). In addition, the methylation status of CpG sites at 31 and 51 nucleotides (nt) according to the transcription start region of the LEPgene was examined. Methods: DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of study participants who were healthy controls and patients with MM. These variants were analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. The methylation at -31 and -51 nt in the LEPwas performed using the methylation-specific PCR method. The 2-year progression-free survival (PFS) and 2-year overall survival (OS) were evaluated according to prognostic factors. Results: There was no significant difference in the genotype distributions of LEPR 668A/G and LEP-2548G/A between the control and patient groups (p>0.05). We found that -31 and -51 nt regions of the LEP gene were unmethylated in the patient group compared with the control group (p=0.051 and p=0.001, respectively). The -31 nt methylation was unchanged in 15 patients (78.94%). PFS and OS were higher in these patients than in the others. In multivariate analysis, the methylated/unmethylated ratio at -31 nt methylation was associated with a poor prognosis (p=0.020). Conclusion: To our knowledge, our study is the first to examine these variants and their methylation status in Turkish patients with MM. Our results showed that LEP gene -31 nt unmethylation was associated with PFS and OS. These results need to be confirmed in different ethnic and larger sample groups.

Introduction: Psoriasis (Ps) is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory skin disorder with an incompletely understood etiology. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the suspectibility to Ps and G894T (rs1799983) and variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) variants of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS3) gene.Methods: This is a case-controlled study that included 74 Ps patients in addition to 74 matched healthy unrelated controls from the same locality. The NOS3 gene variants were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or PCR- restriction fragment lenght polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).Results: The NOS3 G894T TT genotype and T allele were more common in the Ps group compared to the healthy controls (p=0.000, p=0.001, respectively). The NOS3 VNTR variant BB genotype and B allele were higher in the patient group than in the control group (p=0.005, p=0.000 respectively). The NOS3 VNTR AA genotype was lower in the patient group (p=0.027). However, a stratified analysis including arthritis, the Ps area and severity index (PASI), the age of onset, and family history revealed no significant correlation between the NOS3 G894T and NOS3 VNTR genotypes (p>0.05).Conclusion: These results suggest that the NOS3 G894T and VNTR variants are associated with Ps in a Turkish cohort. However, future studies are needed to understand the genetic role of the NOS3 variants in the development of Ps.

Introduction: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is one of the most common leukemias in developed countries. Multiple myeloma (MM), a clonal plasma cell disease, is the second most prevalent hematological cancer. Interleukin-17 (IL-17) can facilitate the secretion of numerous proinflammatory cytokines. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the effect of IL-17F rs763780 on CLL/MM susceptibility in a Turkish cohort.Methods: The study included 37 patients with CLL, 21 patients with MM, and 100 healthy controls. The IL-17F rs763780 variant was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The frequencies of the alleles and genotypes in patient and control groups were compared by the χ2 test.Results: No significant difference was found in the distribution of genotypes and alleles frequencies for IL-17F rs 763780 between the patients and the healthy controls (P>0.05).Conclusion: Our results suggest that IL-17 rs763780 variant may not contribute to CLL and MM pathogenesis.