Plasma derived-exosome microRNAs in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis of Anti-synthetase syndrome Disease patients

Abstract

Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) in Anti-synthetase syndrome (ASSD) patients is frequent, often severe and rapidly progressive, causing much of the increased morbidity and mortality associated with ASSD. We hypothesized that immune-related miRNAs may be associated with presence/absence of lung involvement in ASSD patients and help to predict disease course. Fifteen ASSD patients were enrolled: 11 with ILD and 4 without ILD. 84 miRNAs involved in activation and differentiation of T-cells and B-cells were identified in plasma derived-exosome using miRNA PCR array (MIHS-111ZG, Qiagen). miR-15b-5p, miR-23a-3p, miR-25-3p, miR-30a-5p and miR-29c-3p were significantly up-regulated in ASSD-ILD patients as compared to patients without lung involvement. The area under the ROC curve of miR-15b-5p, miR-25-3p, miR-30a-5p and miR-29c-3p were 0.83, 0.87, 0.86 and 0.89, respectively (p= 0.05 for miR-25-3p and p&lt;0.05 for all other curves). By DIANA-mirPath analysis, we carried out the prediction of the biologic targets and pathways as well as cellular processes and we found an involvement in PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. A clear involvement in immune and inflammatory progressions and possible role in pulmonary fibrosis was documented for the miRNAs identified [1, 2]. It is notable that these miRNAs were related to PI3K-Akt signaling pathway that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. The identification of markers could be important in early identification of the disease, further studies are needed to better understand the role of these miRNAs in pathology ant its treatment. <b>