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A panel of blood-based circulatory miRNAs with diagnostic potential in patients with psoriasis
Priyanka Madaan1, Uttam Sharma2, Nipanshi Tyagi3
1Department of Biochemistry, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, Punjab, India.
Abstract:
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with keratinocyte hyperproliferation and T cells as key mediators of lesional and systemic inflammatory changes. To date, no suitable differential biomarkers are available for the disease diagnosis. More recently, microRNAs have been identified as critical regulators of lesional and systemic immune changes in psoriasis with diagnostic potential. We have performed expression profiling of T cell-specific miRNAs in 38 plasma samples from psoriasis vulgaris patients and an equal number of age- and gender-matched healthy subjects. Our findings have identified a panel of five blood-based circulatory miRNAs with a significant change in their expression levels, comprising miR-215, miR-148a, miR-125b-5p, miR-223, and miR-142-3p, which can differentiate psoriasis vulgaris patients from healthy individuals. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for all five miRNAs individually and in combination exhibited a significant disease discriminatory area under the curve with an AUC of 0.762 and a p < 0.0001 for all the miRNAs together. Statistically, all five miRNAs in combination depicted the best-fit model in relation to disease severity (PASI) compared with individual miRNAs, with the highest R2 value of 0.94 and the lowest AIC score of 131.8. Each of the miRNAs also exhibited a significant association with at least one of the other miRNAs in the panel. Importantly, the five miRNAs in the panel regulate one or more immune-inflammation pathways based on target prediction, pathway network analysis, and validated roles in the literature. The miRNA panel provides a rationalized combination of biomarkers that can be tested further on an expanded cohort of patients for their diagnostic value.
Insights
Researchers identified five blood microRNAs (miRNAs) that can differentiate psoriasis vulgaris patients from healthy individuals. This panel of miRNAs shows diagnostic potential for this chronic inflammatory skin disease.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Dermatology
- Genetics
Background:
- Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by keratinocyte hyperproliferation and T cell involvement.
- Current diagnostic methods lack specific biomarkers for differentiating psoriasis vulgaris.
- MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as key regulators of immune responses and potential diagnostic markers in psoriasis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify T cell-specific circulating miRNAs as potential diagnostic biomarkers for psoriasis vulgaris.
- To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a panel of miRNAs in distinguishing patients from healthy controls.
- To assess the correlation between miRNA expression levels and psoriasis disease severity.
Main Methods:
- Expression profiling of T cell-specific miRNAs in plasma samples from 38 psoriasis vulgaris patients and 38 healthy controls.
- Utilized receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to determine diagnostic discriminatory power (AUC).
- Performed statistical analysis, including correlation with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), and pathway network analysis for target prediction.
Main Results:
- A panel of five miRNAs (miR-215, miR-148a, miR-125b-5p, miR-223, and miR-142-3p) showed significantly altered expression in psoriasis patients.
- The combined miRNA panel demonstrated significant disease discriminatory ability with an AUC of 0.762 (p < 0.0001).
- The miRNA panel exhibited the best correlation with disease severity (PASI), with R² = 0.94 and AIC = 131.8, and regulated immune-inflammation pathways.
Conclusions:
- The identified panel of five circulating miRNAs holds significant potential as non-invasive biomarkers for psoriasis vulgaris diagnosis.
- This miRNA panel can differentiate psoriasis patients from healthy individuals and correlates with disease severity.
- Further validation in larger cohorts is warranted to establish the clinical utility of this miRNA biomarker panel.
