Abnormally expressed lncRNAs as potential biomarkers for schizophrenia and positive symptoms

ObjectiveAlthough numerous studies have reported on the relationship between abnormal expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and schizophrenia (SZ), few have focused on aberrant lncRNAs as potential clinical biomarkers for diagnosing SZ and their association with psychiatric symptoms.MethodsTo investigate the diagnostic value of lncRNAs as specific biomarkers in the plasma of patients with SZ and to explore the relationship between the expression levels of aberrant lncRNAs and psychiatric symptoms, we examined the expression levels of ten significantly aberrant lncRNAs (ENST00000394742.3, TCONS_l2_00025502, NONHSAT098126, NONHSAT089447, ENST00000563823.2, NONHSAT021545, NONHSAT041499, ENST00000521622.1, TCONS_l2_00021339, NONHSAT1047781). The ten significantly aberrant lncRNAs were analyzed in plasma samples from 96 SZ patients and 48 healthy controls using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Global Assessment Scale (GAS) were utilized to assess the psychiatric symptoms of the SZ patients.ResultsThe results demonstrated that a panel of lncRNAs consisting of NONHSAT089447, NONHSAT021545, and NONHSAT041499 exhibited significant upregulation and combined diagnostic value for SZ (AUC = 0.689, P < 0.001; sensitivity: 77.1%, specificity: 58.3%). The plasma expression levels of these three abnormal lncRNAs were closely correlated with the Positive subscale score and the GAS total score (rSp: -0.401 to 0.311, P < 0.01). Notably, NONHSAT021545 accounted for 11.3% of the Positive subscale score and 11.6% of the GAS total score, respectively. Furthermore, the receiver operating characteristic curve demonstrated that NONHSAT021545 could significantly predict the severity of positive symptoms.ConclusionsThe combination of NONHSAT089447, NONHSAT021545, and NONHSAT041499 as a panel may serve as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of SZ. Furthermore, these three abnormal lncRNAs, particularly NONHSAT021545, are likely implicated in the pathogenesis and development of the positive symptoms associated with SZ.