Circular RNA in Multiple Sclerosis: Pathogenicity and Potential Biomarker Development: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Neuroimmunology
• Molecular Biology
• Genetics

Background:

• Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) with unknown etiology, affecting millions globally.
• Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are stable, non-coding RNA molecules with specific expression patterns, recognized for their potential as disease biomarkers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the role of circRNAs in the pathogenicity of Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
• To evaluate the potential of circRNAs as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers for MS.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was conducted across eight scientific databases.
• Analysis focused on studies reporting circRNA expression differences in MS patients versus healthy controls (HC).
• Investigated the association between MS-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and circRNA expression within linkage disequilibrium (LD) blocks.

Main Results:

• Differential expression of circRNAs was observed in MS patients compared to HC.
• Expression differences were more pronounced across various MS subtypes.
• Enrichment of circRNAs within LD blocks containing MS-associated SNPs suggests a regulatory role in disease pathogenesis.

Conclusions:

• CircRNAs are implicated in the pathogenicity of Multiple Sclerosis.
• CircRNAs demonstrate significant potential as biomarkers for MS disease pathology.
• Further research is warranted to elucidate the full biological impact and clinical utility of circRNAs in MS.