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It has been hypothesized that polymorphisms expected to result in functional changes in cytokine genes may influence susceptibility to cancer, including malignant melanoma (MM). Here, we have screened 24 potentially functional polymorphisms in five cytokine genes by PCR-SBT and PCR-SSP methods in 122 MM cell lines derived from Caucasian patients. The polymorphic positions studied were: TNFA -1031, -863, -857, -851, -574, -376, -308, -238, +488; TGFB1 -988, -800, -509, +869, +915, +652, +673, +713, +788; IL10 -1082, -819, -592; IL6 -174; IFNG -333, +874. The frequencies of cytokine genotypes of melanoma tumours were compared with those published for healthy Caucasians. It was found that TNFA -238 GA, TGFB1 -509 CT, -800 GG, IFNG +874 AT, IL6 -174 GG, IL10 -1082 GA genotypes were significantly decreased, while TNFA -238 AA, -857 CC, TGFB1 -509 TT, IFNG +874 AA, IL6 -174 CC, IL10 -1082 AA, -819 TT, -592 AA genotypes were significantly increased, in MM. This suggests that genotypes provisionally associated with low expression of pro-inflammatory and immunomodulatory TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma and IL-6 and anti-inflammatory IL-10 and TGF-beta1 could be involved in the mechanisms of cancer progression and escape from immunosurveillance.

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The allogenic transplantation of hemopoietic stem cell from bone marrow and peripheral blood is limited due to the necessity to identify HLA matched donor within the family or in bone marrow donor registries. Although, more than 10 million donors are available worldwide, completely HLA matched donors could be found only for 75% of the patients. It is well known that transplantations of hematopoietic stem cell from cord blood are characterized with a lower risk of GvHD and therefore do not require so strict criteria for HLA matching, and less time for search of matched donor is needed. The necessity to establish a National cord blood bank in Bulgaria is emphasized further by the heterogeneity of HLA allele and haplotype distribution in the Bulgarian population. That could be explained by the ethnic diversity of the population. As a result some alleles are more frequent in Bulgarians compared to other populations. The organization, accreditation, and development of a strategy for a National cord blood bank will be discussed.

Uterine NK (uNK) cells constitute the greatest proportion of maternal decidual leukocytes during pregnancy, which suggest that they have an important role in endometrial receptivity and embryo implantation. Identifying specific biomarkers for successful uterine receptivity and decreased risk of implantation failure would improve the tools of the assisted reproductive technology. Usually, CD56 dim uNK cells are negatively associated with the assisted reproductive outcome, whereas the CD56 bright CD16 − uNK cells are associated with successful implantation and decidualization. In this study, we evaluated the distribution of NK subpopulations in women with recurrent implantation failure (RIF). Blood samples and endometrial biopsies from a total of 113 women with RIF attending our clinic for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment were analyzed. Our results showed elevated levels (>12 %) of double positive (CD56 + CD16 + ) peripheral blood NK cells in 24 women, and 57 women with double positive peripheral blood NK cells (<12 %). The proportions of total uNK cells in the peri-implantation endometrium of these women were similar in both groups. In addition, the proportion of CD16 -CD56 dim uNK cells was significantly higher in women with unexplained infertility than in women with previously experienced ectopic, or extrauterine, pregnancy. Therefore, the imbalance between CD16 -CD56 dim and CD16 -CD56 bright uNK cells may have important functional implications in women with RIF and could be used as a diagnostic marker associated with endometrial quality.

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