IKZF1 gene polymorphisms increased the risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in an Iranian population

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have proved the association of IKZF1 polymorphisms with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In the present study, we aimed to inspect the impact of IKZF1 gene polymorphisms and childhood ALL in a sample of Iranian population who live in south east of Iran. This case-control study was done on 110 children diagnosed with ALL and 120 healthy children. The IKZF1 (rs4132601 T > G, rs11978267 A > G, rs11980379 T > C, and rs10272724 T > C) polymorphisms were determined using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The results showed that rs4132601 T > G polymorphism increased the risk of ALL in the codominant (OR = 2.96, 95 % CI = 1.58–5.54, p = 0.0008, TG vs TT; and OR = 2.75, 95 % CI = 1.31–5.76, p = 0.0094, GG vs TT) and dominant (OR = 2.89, 95 % CI = 1.61–5.19, p = 0.0004, TG + GG vs TT) inheritance models. On the other hand, the rs4132601 G allele increased the risk of ALL (OR = 1.86, 95 % CI = 1.28–2.96; p = 0.0011) in comparison with the T allele. We have also showed that rs11980379 T > C variant increased the risk of ALL in codominant (OR = 2.43, 95 % CI = 1.28–4.60, p = 0.0076, TC vs TT; and OR = 2.35, 95 % CI = 1.14–4.85, p = 0.0291, CC vs TT) and dominant (OR = 2.40, 95 % CI = 1.32–4.36, p = 0.0038, TC + CC vs TT) inheritance models. The rs11980379 C allele increased the risk of ALL (OR = 1.59, 95 % CI = 1.10–2.31, p = 0.0151) compared with T allele. Our study also revealed that the rs10272724 T > C polymorphism increased the risk of ALL in codominant (OR = 2.18, 95 % CI = 1.19–3.99, p = 0.0115, TC vs TT; and OR = 2.67, 95 % CI = 1.24–5.77, p = 0.0131, CC vs TT) and dominant (OR = 2.31, 95 % CI = 1.30–4.08, p = 0.0049, TC + CC vs TT) inheritance models. On the one hand, the rs11980379 C allele increased the risk of ALL (OR = 1.70, 95 % CI = 1.17–2.46, p = 0.0062) compared with T allele, while the rs11978267 A/G polymorphism was not associated with ALL risk. In conclusion, our findings confirm the impact of IKZF1 polymorphisms on childhood ALL risk in a sample of Iranian population. Further studies with larger sample sizes and different ethnicities are needed to confirm our findings.