The Emerging Role of Noncoding RNAs in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gut, has been on the rise in recent years—not only in the adult population but also especially in pediatric patients. Despite the absence of curative treatments, current therapeutic options are able to achieve long-term remission in a significant proportion of cases. To this end, however, there is a need for biomarkers enabling accurate diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of response to therapies to facilitate a more individualized approach to pediatric IBD patients. In recent years, evidence has continued to evolve concerning noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) and their roles as integral factors in key immune-related cellular pathways. Specific deregulation patterns of ncRNAs have been linked to pathogenesis of various diseases, including pediatric IBD. In this article, we provide an overview of current knowledge on ncRNAs, their altered expression profiles in pediatric IBD patients, and how these are emerging as potentially valuable clinical biomarkers as we enter an era of personalized medicine.

MicroRNAs in Colon Tissue of Pediatric Ulcerative Pancolitis Patients Allow Detection and Prognostic Stratification

“…Studies performed on cohorts of pediatric patients are rather sparse and of limited reliability, as most of the studies work with several dozen patients at most. Despite all the limitations, the results are mutually confirming [ 12 ], at least in the cases of several miRNAs, namely miR-21, miR-146a and miR-142-3p [ 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”

“…A reasonable number of candidate miRNAs were selected based on a literature review published elsewhere [ 12 ]. These were only demonstrably dysregulated miRNAs in terms of downregulation and upregulation in pediatric patients: 5 upregulated (miR-21-5p, miR-142-3p, miR-146a-5p, miR-223-3p and let-7i-5p) and 5 downregulated (miR-192-5p, miR-194-5p, miR-200b-3p, miR-375-3p and miR-4284).…”

“…In recent years, evidence has continued to evolve concerning non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and their roles as integral factors in key immune-related cellular pathways. Specific deregulation patterns of ncRNAs have been linked to the pathogenesis of adult and pediatric IBD [ 12 ]. Several microRNAs (miRNAs) and specific miRNA signatures have been identified in IBD-associated tissues.…”

“…It has been shown that, among many other cellular processes, miRNAs play a significant role in intestinal immunity. Nevertheless, there exists only sparse information on ncRNA profiles and their diagnostic and prognostic potential in pediatric IBD patients [ 12 ]. In this article, we stratify therapeutically naïve pediatric patients with diagnosed UC according to the severity of their condition and the prediction for standard treatment according to the specific expression of 10 candidate miRNAs.…”

Identification and Validation of Circulating Micrornas as Prognostic Biomarkers in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Patients Undergoing Surgical Resection

“…miRNAs act as powerful regulators of gene expression, mostly via interacting with the 3 UTR of target mRNAs, which inhibit translation or induces mRNA degradation [14]. Additionally, they can also bind to 5'UTR of target mRNAs or bind to coding sequence regions [15]. A number of studies have revealed that miRNAs are involved in the regulation of cell homeostasis by controlling important cellular processes including the development, differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis and stress reaction.…”