A Review of MicroRNA Biomarkers in Traumatic Brain Injury

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Molecular Biology
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Traumatic brain injury (TBI) poses significant public health concerns with poorly understood long-term effects.
• Current TBI diagnosis relies on subjective assessments, lacking objective biological tools for mild TBI detection or recovery monitoring.
• MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small epigenetic molecules crucial in neuronal function, are emerging as potential indicators of brain injury.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize existing research on microRNAs (miRNAs) in the context of traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• To identify reliable miRNA biomarker candidates for TBI diagnosis and prognosis.
• To establish a foundational understanding of miRNA biology in TBI and guide future clinical research.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review and synthesis of findings from 14 human studies on miRNAs and TBI.
• Analysis of over 291 miRNAs reported in the literature.
• Identification of overlapping miRNA candidates across multiple studies and biofluids.

Main Results:

• Distilled over 291 miRNAs down to 17 promising biomarker candidates.
• Identified miRNAs that show overlap across multiple studies and biofluids.
• Highlighted the potential of specific miRNAs to indicate TBI presence and predict symptom duration.

Conclusions:

• MicroRNAs represent a promising class of biomarkers for traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• The identified 17 miRNA candidates warrant further investigation for clinical application in TBI diagnosis and patient monitoring.
• Future research should focus on validating these miRNA biomarkers for objective TBI assessment and recovery tracking.