Abstract
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in gene regulation and show greater tissue specificity and complexity of biological functions. There is on-going research in their contribution in autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). Our study aimed at the evaluation of serum levels of lncRNAs, MALAT1 and lnc-DC in MS patients and the investigation of the association between these lncRNAs and the disease activity. Serum from 45 MS patients and 45 healthy controls was separated. MALAT1 and lnc-DC expression levels were assayed by qRT-PCR. MALAT1 and lnc-DC were significantly increased in MS patients (P=0.004 and P=0.006, respectively) in comparison with controls. There was a significant increase in expression of MALAT1 in secondary progressive MS (SPMS) subgroup compared with controls (P<0.0001); however, significant elevation of lnc-DC was demonstrated in relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) subtype (P=0.003) compared with normal controls. A positive association between the expression levels of MALAT1 and lnc-DC (r = 0.513, P < 0.0001) in MS patients was detected. Moreover, positive correlation was observed between MALAT1and lnc-DC in RRMS (r = 0.569, P = 0.001). Serum levels of MALAT1 and lnc-DC may serve as potential novel molecular biomarkers for MS diagnosis and may provide a new direction for its treatment.
Highlights
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disabling disease, causing inflammation and demyelination of central nervous system (CNS) and spinal cord, affecting people around age of 30 years specially females [1]
Demographic and clinical characteristics of MS patients and controls are summarized in Table 1, no significant difference was observed in age and sex ratio among two groups (P>0.05)
To determine whether Metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) and lnc-dendritic cell (DC) may contribute to MS or not, the levels of MALAT1 and lnc-DC expression were examined in serum samples from MS patients and healthy control
Summary
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disabling disease, causing inflammation and demyelination of central nervous system (CNS) and spinal cord, affecting people around age of 30 years specially females [1]. Autoreactive T cells react in an abnormal form against CNS autoantigens [3], these immune cells cross blood–brain barrier and cause inflammation, demyelination and neuroaxonal degeneration. Many studies have aimed at identification of potential biomarkers that help in the detection of disease activity and progression. Among these biomarkers, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) [4] are a class of non-coding RNAs that were discovered recently and found to be longer than 200 nucleotides in length.
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