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Correlating serum micrornas and clinical parameters in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Radhika Raheja¹, Keren Regev², Brian C Healy¹

¹Department of Neurology, Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

|February 22, 2018

Abstract

Introduction:

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a debilitating neurologic disorder with poor survival rates and no clear biomarkers for disease diagnosis and prognosis.

Methods:

We compared serum microRNA (miRNA) expression from patients with ALS with healthy controls and patients with multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer disease. We also correlated miRNA expression in cross-sectional and longitudinal cohorts of ALS patients with clinical parameters.

Results:

We identified 7 miRNAs (miR-192-5p, miR-192-3p, miR-1, miR-133a-3p, miR-133b, miR-144-5p, miR-19a-3p) that were upregulated and 6 miRNAs (miR-320c, miR-320a, let-7d-3p, miR-425-5p, miR-320b, miR-139-5p) that were downregulated in patients with ALS compared with healthy controls, patients with Alzheimer disease, and patients with multiple sclerosis. Changes in 4 miRNAs (miR-136-3p, miR-30b-5p, miR-331-3p, miR-496) correlated positively and change in 1 miRNA (miR-2110) correlated negatively with changes in clinical parameters in longitudinal analysis.

Discussion:

Our findings identified serum miRNAs that can serve as biomarkers for ALS diagnosis and progression. Muscle Nerve 58: 261-269, 2018.

Keywords:

ALS biomarkers disease comparisons longitudinal analysis microRNA serum

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