Circulating microRNA Profile throughout the Menstrual Cycle

Kadri Rekker,Merli Saare,Maire Peters,Andres Salumets,Anne Mari Roost,Andrew Wolfe

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0081166

Kadri Rekker, Merli Saare + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0081166

Copy DOI

Abstract

Normal physiological variables, such as age and gender, contribute to alterations in circulating microRNA (miRNA) expression levels. The changes in the female body during the menstrual cycle can also be reflected in plasma miRNA expression levels. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the plasma miRNA profile of healthy women during the menstrual cycle and to assess which circulating miRNAs are derived from blood cells. The plasma miRNA expression profiles in nine healthy women were determined by quantitative real time PCR using Exiqon Human Panel I assays from four time-points of the menstrual cycle. This platform was also used for studying miRNAs from pooled whole blood RNA samples at the same four time-points. Our results indicated that circulating miRNA expression levels in healthy women were not significantly altered by the processes occurring during the menstrual cycle. No significant differences in plasma miRNA expression levels were observed between the menstrual cycle time-points, but the number of detected miRNAs showed considerable variation among the studied individuals. miRNA analysis from whole blood samples revealed that majority of miRNAs in plasma are derived from blood cells. The most abundant miRNA in plasma and blood was hsa-miR-451a, but a number of miRNAs were only detected in one or the other sample type. In conclusion, our data suggest that the changes in the female body during the menstrual cycle do not affect the expression of circulating miRNAs at measurable levels.

Highlights

MicroRNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. miRNAs have been found in all mammalian tissues and cell types examined so far and play important roles in a variety of physiological and pathological processes [1]
The hierarchical clustering analysis showed that the samples did not cluster according to the menstrual cycle time-point but a considerable clustering was formed by study subjects (Figure S1)
We investigated whether the changes occurring in the female body throughout the menstrual cycle influence plasma miRNA patterns of healthy young women

Summary

Introduction

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. miRNAs have been found in all mammalian tissues and cell types examined so far and play important roles in a variety of physiological and pathological processes [1]. In addition to cells and tissues, miRNAs are present in extracellular body fluids such as plasma, serum, urine, and saliva [2,3,4]. Several studies have shown that the expression pattern of circulating miRNAs can be used to identify patients with cancer, cardiovascular and intestinal diseases [8,9]. In addition to these pathologies, circulating miRNAs are proposed to be a promising source of potential biomarkers for non-invasive diagnosis of infertility and gynaecological diseases [10], such as endometriosis [11,12] and ectopic pregnancy [13]

Objectives

Results

Conclusion