STUDY OF THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CIRCULAR RNA circ_0005402 AND MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS DISEASE IN A COHORT OF EGYPTIAN PATIENTS

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disease caused by interplay of genetic and environmental factors. However, it is a complex disease, and its clinical and radiologic heterogeneity often make its diagnosis challenging. A new era of research has been established through the study of circular RNAs which have been proposed as promising candidates for acting as biomarkers of multiple human diseases including multiple sclerosis.The aim of the present work was to search for an association between circular RNA circ_0005402, expressed from the ANXA2 gene located in chromosome 15 , and multiple sclerosis in a cohort of Egyptian patients.The study was carried out on 60 subjects divided into two groups; Group I included 30 confirmed multiple sclerosis patients with exclusion of patients currently receiving any disease modifying therapy and patients with other associated autoimmune diseases. Group II included 30 controls with no signs of autoimmune nor other neurodegenerative diseases.Each person of the patient group was subjected to full history taking and complete neurological examination. Relative quantification of circular RNA circ_0005402 expression was done using reverse transcription Real-time PCR for both cases and controls.In conclusion, we found that circular RNA circ_0005402 might be a potential diagnostic biomarker of MS with high sensitivity and moderate specificity. Thus it can be used for screening of MS cases. No association has been found between ANXA2 gene expression and MS.