Expression and clinical value of lncRNA MALAT1 and lncRNA ANRIL in glaucoma patients

Expression and clinical value of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) MALAT1 and lncRNA ANRIL in glaucoma patients were investigated. Altogether 86 glaucoma patients who were diagnosed (study group) and 86 people who underwent physical examinations and were confirmed to be healthy (control group) in the Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 2016 to June 2018 were enrolled. Expression of the serum lncRNA MALAT1, lncRNA ANRIL, pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), homocysteine (Hcy), and inflammatory cytokines [interleukin-12 (IL-12), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ)] was detected. The clinical significance of lncRNA MALAT1 and lncRNA ANRIL was analyzed. Compared with those in the control group, patients in the study group had significantly lower expression of serum lncRNA MALAT1 and lncRNA ANRIL (P<0.05), significantly lower expression of serum PEDF and IL-12 (P<0.05), and significantly higher expression of serum Hcy and IL-4 (P<0.05), without significant difference in the expression of serum IFN-γ between the two groups (P>0.05). Serum lncRNA MALAT1 and lncRNA ANRIL were positively correlated with PEDF and IL-12 (P<0.05), but negatively correlated with Hcy and IL-4 (P<0.05). The diagnostic value of the combined detection of lncRNA MALAT1 and lncRNA ANRIL was higher than that of lncRNA MALAT1 alone and lncRNA ANRIL alone. The expression of lncRNA MALAT1 and lncRNA ANRIL was significantly related to the pathological staging of the patients (P<0.05), not the sex, age, body mass index (BMI), types, and presence or absence of myopia (P>0.05). lncRNA MALAT1 and lncRNA ANRIL are poorly expressed in the serum of glaucoma patients and related to the patients' conditions. Their combined detection has high diagnostic value for the disease. Therefore, they may be used as new molecular targets for the diagnosis and severity evaluation of glaucoma patients.