effect of sulfur mustard toxicity on flt3itd gene mutation in sulfur mustard veterans

Background: sulfur mustard (sm) is a chemical blistering warfare that affects different organs especially hematopoietic system. prevalence of acute myeloblastic and lymphoblastic leukemia is increased by sulfur mustard exposure. flt3itd mutation can be effective on leukemogenesis. therefore, the aim of this study was to verify the frequency of flt3itd mutation in the patients who exposed to sm.methods: this study was implemented on 42 people poisoned by sm during iraqiran war about three decades ago and is now resident in mashhad, iran. the control group included 30 healthy males that are relatives of the patients with firstdegree. after dna extraction, pcr was performed for flt3itd analysis.results: by analysis of pcr products, no flt3itd mutation was detected in the patient or control groups. there was no significant difference in hematological factors between the two groups.conclusion: other mechanisms can lead to leukemia in sm exposed persons. elapsed time after exposure to sulfur mustard can be effective on leukemogenesis, then future more study may be beneficial for early diagnosis of leukemia in sm exposed veterans.