Detection of the levels of long non-coding RNAs including NEAT1 and MALAT1 in peripheral blood samples from patients with HIV-1 infection and their relationships with disease progression

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of two long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) during HIV-1 infection, which were nuclear-enriched autosomal transcript 1 (NEAT1) and metastasis associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1), and their relationships with disease progression. Methods Fifty-nine patients with HIV-1 infection and 21 healthy subjects were recruited in this study, of which 31 patients were highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)-naive and 28 patients received HAART for more than one year with undetectable viral loads. Total RNAs were extracted from PBMC and plasma samples, respectively. The levels of NEAT1 and MALAT1 were detected by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction. Results The levels of NAET1 and MALAT1 in PBMC from HAART naive patients were 3 to 5 times higher than those in healthy subjects (P 0.05). Conclusion This study suggested that NEAT1 and MALAT1 might be involved in the disease progression in patients with HIV-1 infection. The level of NEAT1 in plasma could be used as a potential biomarker of HIV-1 infection. Key words: 【Key words】Long non-coding RNA; Nuclear-enriched autosomal transcript 1 (NEAT1); Metastasis associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1); HIV-1; Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)