Evaluation of The Expression Levels of Three Long Non-Coding RNAs in Multiple Sclerosis

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 .Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Allied Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 .Department of Biochemistry, Medical School and Kerman Physiology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Science, Kerman, Iran ;.Zist-fanavari Novin, Biotechnology Institute, Isfahan, Iran

3 4.Department of Genetics, Falavarjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

4 5.Division of Genetics, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran ;6.Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore

5 7.Department of Biology, School of Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran ;8.Department of Cellular Biotechnology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Biotechnology, ACECR, Isfahan, Iran

6 .Zist-fanavari Novin, Biotechnology Institute, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Objective
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disorder involving both inflammatory and neurodegenerative responses. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been had an emerging role as the biomarkers of different disorders, including autoimmune diseases. Previous studies have shown that NR_003531.3 (MEG3a), AC000061.1_201, and AC007182.6 play a role in the pathogenesis of human autoimmune diseases. However, the potential significance of these lncRNAs, as the diagnostic biomarkers of MS, has not been studied yet. We aimed to quantitatively evaluate the expression levels of NR_003531.3, AC000061.1_201, and AC007182.6 in peripheral blood samples of MS patients in comparison with healthy controls.
Materials and Methods
In this case-control study, the blood samples from 20 MS patients and 10 healthy controls were collected. Total RNA was extracted, and the expression levels of three selected lncRNAs were quantitatively measured using the quantitative real time-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) method.
Results
We detected a significant down-regulation in the expression of NR_003531.3 in MS patients, while no marked changes were observed in the expression of AC000061.1_201 and AC007182.6 in patients compared with controls. Based on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, NR_003531.3 could discriminate MS patients from healthy subjects effectively. Regarding the prognosis of MS patients, NR_003531.3 is significantly and inversely correlated with the expanded disability status scale (EDSS).
Conclusion
The potential role of NR_003531.3 lncRNA as a diagnostic biomarker to distinguish MS patients is proposed. Prognostically, NR_003531.3 correlates with lower disability rates in MS patients.

Keywords