Down-regulation of GPX3 is associated with favorable/intermediate karyotypes in de novo acute myeloid leukemia.

Decreased glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPX3) expression has been identified in numerous solid tumors. However, GPX3 expression pattern in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains poorly known. Our study was intended to explore GPX3 expression status and further analyze the clinical relevance of GPX3 expression in AML. GPX3 mRNA level was detected by real-time quantitative PCR in 122 de novo AML patients and 44 normal controls. GPX3 transcript level was significantly decreased compared with normal controls (P<0.001). The patients with low GPX3 expression had significantly higher hemoglobin and platelets than those with high GPX3 expression (P=0.049 and 0.020). The frequency of low GPX3 expression in favorable karyotype (66%, 23/35) and intermediate karyotype (65%, 45/69) was higher than in poor karyotype (29%, 4/14) (P=0.017). No significant differences were observed in both complete remission and overall survival between the GPX3 low-expressed and high-expressed patients (P>0.05). Reduced GPX3 expression is associated with favorable/intermediate karyotypes but not with survival in de novo AML patients.