Circulating hsa-let-7e-5p and hsa-miR-125a-5p as Possible Biomarkers in the Diagnosis of Major Depression and Bipolar Disorders

Abstract

Background. Evidence shows that microRNAs (miRNAs) could play a key role in the homeostasis and development of major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. The present study is aimed at investigating the changes in circulating miRNA expression profiles in a plasma of patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) to distinguish and evaluate these molecules as biomarkers for mood disorders. Methods. A study enrolled a total of 184 subjects: 74 controls, 84 MDD patients, and 26 BD patients. Small RNA sequencing revealed 11 deregulated circulating miRNAs in MDD and BD plasma, of which expression of 5, hsa-miR-139-3p, miRNAs hsa-let-7e-5p, hsa-let-7f-5p, hsa-miR-125a-5p, and hsa-miR-483-5p, were further verified using qPCR. miRNA gene expression data was evaluated alongside the data from clinical assessment questionnaires. Results. hsa-let-7e-5p and hsa-miR-125a-5p were both confirmed upregulated: 0.75-fold and 0.25-fold, respectively, in the MDD group as well as 1.36-fold and 0.68-fold in the BD group. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis showed mediocre diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of both hsa-let-7e-5p and hsa-miR-125a-5p with approximate area under the curve (AOC) of 0.66. ROC analysis of combined miRNA and clinical assessment data showed that hsa-let-7e-5p and hsa-miR-125a-5p testing could improve MDD and BD diagnostic accuracy by approximately 10%. Conclusions. Circulating hsa-let-7e-5 and hsa-miR-125a-5p could serve as additional peripheral biomarkers for mood disorders; however, suicidal ideation remains the major diagnostic factor for MDD and BD.

Uncovering the genetic links of diabetic erectile dysfunction and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome

“…In ED research, Xu et al ( Xu et al, 2021 ) has revealed that hsa-let-7e-5p was one of the characteristic miRNAs as signature by machine learning method in diabetic ED. Besides, circulating hsa-let-7e-5 could serve as one of the peripheral biomarkers for major depression and bipolar disorders mood disorders ( Gecys et al, 2022 ). And the latter propelled the pathological interaction in ED and CPPS.…”

RNA Biomarkers in Bipolar Disorder and Response to Mood Stabilizers

“…Studies investigating the association between RNA markers and BD in biofluids or peripheral cells are presented in Table 1 . The majority of the studies we retrieved investigated only one type of RNA (mRNAs or a type of noncoding RNA), while only few studies conducted integrated analyses of mRNAs and either miRNAs [ 16 ], circRNAs [ 17 ] or lncRNAs [ 18 , 19 ]. All of the studies that conducted integrative analyses used a genome-wide approach, except the study from Eghtedarian and colleagues, who measured levels of different mRNAs and lncRNAs related to a specific pathway (the vitamin D receptor pathway) [ 18 ].…”

“…The large majority of the studies presented in Table 1 were conducted in whole blood or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), with only a minority of studies exploring RNA levels in plasma/serum [ 16 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ] or plasma-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) [ 24 , 25 ]. Among EVs, exosomes are membrane vesicles released by different cells into the extracellular matrix that play a pivotal role in intercellular communication and signal transmission through the transfer of bioactive molecules to adjacent or distant recipient cells [ 26 ].…”

Reviewing the role of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of depression and exploring new therapeutic options

“…We speculate that transplantation of depression-related miRNA (has-miR-139-3p, miRNAs-let-7e-5p, has-let-7f-5p, etc.) restored to their normal levels may also have a therapeutic effect, which requires further animal and clinical studies to verify ( Gecys et al, 2022 ).…”