OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of retinol-binding protein (RBP) in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its related factors.

METHODSThe clinical data of 123 patients with AML from October 2012 to February 2016 and 100 healthy controls were collected and the correlation of RBP expression level with sex, French-American-British (FAB) subtypes, molecular mutations, peripheral white blood cells and long-term outcomes was analyzed.

RESULTSCompared with AML patients, the RBP expression level was significantly higher in healthy controls (61.02±34.97 vs 34.44±14.08 mg/L)(u=8.658, P<0.01). Patients with M3 showed higher RBP level (40.74±15.79 mg/L) compared with that of M4 (28.40±13.64 mg/L)(P<0.01) and M5 (31.97±15.31 mg/L)(P<0.05). Negative correlation was observed for RBP and white blood cells in patients with AML (r=-0.352, P<0.001), which was more remarkable in patients with M4 (r=-0.563, P<0.01) and M5 (r=-0.423, P<0.01). AML patients achieved complete remission (CR) (48.64±9.24 mg/L) showed higher RBP level than that before treatment (u=4.876, P<0.01), but lower than healthy controls (u=2.106,P<0.05). After CR, patients with M3 showed higher RBP level than that of non-M3 patients (54.91±5.25 mg/L vs 41.36±7.33 mg/L)(t=8.777,P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONDetecting RBP expression may provide some useful information for urderstanding the pathophysiology and improving the treatment of patients with AML.