254A MINISATELLITE TANDEM REPEAT (MNS16A) OF HUMAN TELOMERASE REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE (HTERT) IN SUDANESE PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LYMPHOID LEUKAEMIARecently a minisatellite tandem repeat called MNS16A, located in the downstream of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene is identified and reported to have an effect on hTERT expression and telomerase activity. This study aimed to verify whether there is an association between MNS16A hTERT tandem repeat variants and the chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) in Sudanese patients or not. Fifty Sudanese Patients with CLL and 50 healthy volunteers were recruited to participate in this study. For molecular analysis blood samples were collected in ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) and DNA was extracted by salting out method. Allele specific PCR was used to amplify hTERT MNS16A tandem repeat variants. Patients' ages were ranged 40-76 years (Mean±SD:63±8.3); 34(68%) of patients were males and 16(32%) were females. Two alleles were detected in CLL patients (271 bp and 302 pb); accordingly three genotypes were reported (271/271, 302/302, and 271/302). Also in the control group the same two alleles were detected but only the genotype 271/302 was found. There was statistically significant association between the genotype 271/302 and CLL (OR : 2.9 , CI :1.6 - 4.1 , P.value : 0.00). In conclusion, there was a significant association between hTERT MNS16A 271/302 genotypic variant and CLL. elshazaliwidaa@gmail.comResearch572015Telomerase, Reverse transcriptase,Tandem repeat,Chronic lymphoid leukaemiaEman Salah Aldein Alamein,Elshazali Widaa Ali,Ibrahim Khider Ibrahim,Leena Babiker Marghani, Mohanad Altayeb Mohamed Ahmed,Enaam Abdelrhman Abdelgader,Eldirdiri Mohamed Abdel RahmanDepartement of Haematology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Al Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan.,Departement of Haematology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Al Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan.,Departement of Haematology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Al Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan.,Departement of Haematology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Al Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan.,Departement of Haematology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Al Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan., Department of pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Al Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan.,Khartoum College of Medical Sciences, Khartoum, Sudan.