ANALYSIS OF SERUM MICRO-RNAs AS POTENTIAL BIOMARKER IN CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a complex disease with genetic and environmental compound is one of the leading causes of death in worldwide. This disease is characterized by lower airway inflammation, and increases risk of lung cancer in smokers. Micro-RNA (miRNA) molecules are key regulators in gene expression that have been widely associated with a several diseases. Differential expression of miRNAs is involved in lung tissue of COPD, but there is no information about biomarker potential of circulating miRNAs in patients. To analyze the miRNA expression profile in COPD, levels of serum miRNAs were profiled by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) array system. The authors examined 72 miRNAs by qRT-PCR array, in 20 COPD patients and 12 control subjects. U6snRNA was used for normalization of the expression of miRNAs for each sample. According to the results, 5 miRNAs were found to be significantly dysregulated. There was down-regulation of miR-20a, miR-28-3p, miR-34c-5p, and miR-100, and up-regulation of miR-7, compared with the controls. This was the first study in COPD for screening of serum miRNAs for searching for biomarker. These results are preliminary screening data and should be confirmed with large patient groups. If so, these miRNAs are likely being involved in pathogenesis of COPD and may give clues for designing therapeutic strategy.

The role of microRNAs in chronic respiratory disease: recent insights

“…Through miRNA profiling, several groups identified panels of miRNAs to be misregulated in serum, exhaled breath condensates, and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from COPD patients compared to controls (Akbas et al, 2012;Pinkerton et al, 2013;Dang et al, 2017). Significantly higher levels of miR-21 and lower levels of miR-181a were evident in serum from individuals with COPD and asymptomatic heavy smokers, and an increased ratio of miR-21:miR-181a was associated with disease severity, implicating high miR-21 levels as a risk factor for COPD development (Xie et al, 2014).…”

Unravelling the complexity of COPD by microRNAs: it's a small world after all

“…Using a qRT-PCR miRNA array approach, AKBAS et al [14] showed that four miRNAs (miR-20a, miR-28-3p, miR-34c-5p and miR-100) were downregulated and one miRNA (miR-7) was upregulated in serum of COPD patients compared with smokers without COPD. Another study, evaluating miRNA expression levels in the plasma of healthy smokers and current smoking COPD patients, found nine differentially expressed miRNAs in COPD (miR-29b, miR-483-5p, miR-152, miR-629, miR-26b, miR-101, miR-106b, miR-532-5p and miR-133b) [26].…”

“…The presence and stable expression of miRNAs in serum, plasma, sputum, urine and several organ tissues and the role of their dysregulation in disease indicate their importance, allowing further exploration of their use as biomarkers and therapeutic targets [14]. The first successful trials using miRNAs as therapeutic targets in liver disease have been reported [15].…”

High-throughput profiling for discovery of non-coding RNA biomarkers of lung disease

“…It is currently incurable, although smoking cessation and symptomatic treatment can delay disease progression. Akbas and colleagues 16 were the first to screen COPD serum for miRNA-based biomarkers and found five miRNAs (miR-20a, miR-28-3p, miR-34c-5p, miR-100 and miR-7) to be significantly dysregulated. Another study which compared miRNA expression in plasma of COPD patients compared with healthy smokers, found nine differentially expressed miRNAs in COPD (miR-29b, miR-483-5p, miR-152, miR-629, miR-26b, miR-101, miR-106b, miR-532-5p and miR-133b) 17 .…”