Roles of miR-182 in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration and its Potential Prognostic Value

MicroRNAs were reported to be involved in the progression of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). This study focused on the potential prognostic value and the underlying mechanism of miR-182 in IDD.

The expression level of miR-182 in plasma samples from 60 IDD patients and 60 healthy controls were examined in the present study. Then, the relationship between miR-182 expression and clinical features of IDD patients was analyzed. Moreover, the nucleus pulposus (NP) cells were cultured and transfected with either miR-182 inhibitor, mimics, or NC to explore the effects of miR-182 on cell proliferation and apoptosis. Furthermore, expression levels of proliferation and apoptosis-related proteins Bcl-2, Bax, and Caspase-3 were also evaluated.

The expression level of miR-182 was dramatically increased in plasma samples of IDD patients compared with the controls. Moreover, ROC analysis indicated that miR-182 was a feasible diagnostic indicator for the diagnosis of IDD. According to the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, the prognosis of patients with the lower expression levels of miR-182 was better than for those with the higher expression levels of miR-182 in IDD. Furthermore, the miR-182 inhibitor significantly increased the proliferation, decreased the apoptosis of human NP cells, and altered the expression of proliferation and apoptosis-related proteins Bcl-2, Bax, and Caspase-3. On the contrary, miR-182 mimics notably inhibited proliferation but promoted apoptosis of human NP cells and increased Bax and Caspase-3 expressions while reducing the Bcl-2 level.

miR-182 was negatively correlated with the prognosis of the IDD patients and affected the proliferation and apoptosis of NP cells in vitro.