<i>ENG</i> and <i>VEGF</i> RNA expression in mononuclear BM cells of MDS subtypes.

<p>The box plot compares median of <i>ENG</i> and <i>VEGF</i> expression levels in BM mononuclear cells between the different MDS groups and controls. The gene expression levels were analyzed by RT-PCR. Each sample was performed in triplicate. Value of each patient is the mean of these three experiments. Mann-Whitney test was used to analyze the results. The box plot compares the RNA expression in BM mononuclear cells of subtypes of MDS. Whiskers represent the range. A down-regulation of <i>ENG</i> was showed in RCMD cases (<i>p</i><0.05). By contrast, <i>ENG</i> expression in high-risk MDS patients was higher than in controls or in the other MDS (<i>p</i><0.05). No significant differences in low-risk MDS excluding RCMD patients in <i>ENG</i> expression with respect to the healthy controls were found (A). The low-risk MDS groups showed over-expression of <i>VEGF</i> with respect to the control group (<i>p</i><0.05). Moreover, patients with RCMD showed the highest values in the expression of this gene with respect to the other low-risk MDS. No significant differences in high-risk MDS patients in <i>VEGF</i> expression with respect to the healthy controls were found (B). ENG: endoglin; VEGF: vascular endothelial grow factor; BM: bone marrow; MDS: myelodysplastic syndrome; RCMD: refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia; RAEB: refractory anaemia with excess of blasts. (Controls n = 13; Low-Risk MDS excluding RCMD n = 22; RCMD n = 12; High-Risk MDS n = 16).