Comparison of serum and lesional miRNA-1291 expressions in patients with bullous pemphigoid

Abstract

Purpose: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune disease increasing by age. miRNA-1291 is a microRNA that plays major role in many immune-mediated cutaneous diseases. We aimed to investigate the role of miRNA-1291 in BP by comparing its expression levels in serum and lesional skin and its correlation with other BP biomarkers (CCL17, anti-BP180, and anti-BP230).
 Materials and methods: Twenty three patients with BP and 23 healthy control patients were included in the study. The miRNeasy Mini Kits was used for RNA isolation from serum and biopsy samples. Qiagen-miRCURY LNA RT Kit was used for conversion of cDNA. miRNA-1291 expression was performed by Real-Time PCR with the original primer and SYBR Green master mix. Serum CCL17, anti-BP180, and anti-BP230 levels were measured with use of ELISA. SPSS 25.0 (IBM SPSS Statistics 25 software) was used for statistical evaluation.
 Results: The expression of miRNA-1291 in serum and biopsy samples were 7.02 and 4.77-fold significantly upregulated than that of control group respectively (p=0.001, p=0.007). The serum levels of anti-BP-180, anti-BP-230 and CCL17 in BP patients were significantly higher compared to control group (p=0.0049, p=0.0071, p=0.001). Anti-BP180, anti-BP230, CCL17 levels and serum miRNA-1291 expression were correlated positively in BP patients. Additionally, serum miRNA-1291 expression were correlated well with lesional miRNA-1291 expression.
 Conclusion: The increase in miRNA-1291 levels in serum and lesional tissue compared to non-lesional tissue suggests that miRNA-1291 may play a role in the pathogenesis of BP. As miRNA-1291 correlates with other BP biomarkers, it may serve as an important biomarker for BP.