title: Apoliprotein B polymorphism: Application to monitoring early bone marrow transplantation in Saudi population.
abstract: Seventy-three unrelated Saudi individuals and seven consecutive bone marrow transplant donor-recipient pairs were studied to characterize and determine the frequency of 3' apolipoprotein B alleles by polymerase chain reaction. The samples analyzed were either peripheral blood or bone marrow aspirates. Eleven different alleles were detected. The index of heterozygosity was 0.66. Apolipoprotein B analysis was informative in 57% of the studied donor-recipient pairs. Engraftment was detected as early as day three post-transplantation. The threshold of detection of this allele was up to 0.01x106/ml. Mixed chimerism of the order of 1% could be detected. We concluded that apolipoprotein B is a highly polymorphic allele among the Saudi population and this makes the region a useful marker for monitoring engraftment following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Biological and Medical Research, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, and Hematology, Royal Peth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nounou
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Butt
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hannan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al-Sedairy