Objective: To determine the serum expression levels of miR-19a, miR-19b, miR-29a, miR-29c, miR-181, miR-195 and miR-221 in Turkish patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and to investigate their relationship with the clinical findings and treatment of PD.

Background: microRNAs (miRNA, miR) are small, non-coding RNA molecules of 19-22 nucleotides in length. These molecules, which were previously thought to be non-functional, have now been found to play critical roles in cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. miRNAs may be important in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by progressive loss of neurons. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. It is clinically characterized by resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability. In addition to these motor symptoms, non-motor symptoms such as cognitive impairments, psychiatric symptoms, autonomic dysfunction and sleep problems can be observed frequently.

Method: This study included 52 PD patients aged between 40-80 years who were followed up outpatient clinic regularly and 20 healthy controls matched to the age and sex of these patients. The clinical severity of disease was assessed using the Hoehn Yahr staging scale and the United Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Venous blood samples were taken after fasting for 12 hours, then centrifuged. Obtained serum samples were stored at -80 °C until analysis of miRNA. In the laboratory, expression levels of these miRNAs were analyzed using a real-time PCR instrument. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS program. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis and area-under the-curve (AUC) was used to evaluate these miRNA levels as potential diagnostic biomarkers for PD.

Results: miR-29c expression levels were increased significantly for PD patients compared to healthy controls. There were no significant differences in levels of other miRNAs between PD patients and controls. The AUC of miR-29c was 0.689. The sensitivity and specificity of this diagnostic test was 54.9% and 80.0%, respectively. Age, sex, presence of hypertension, type of onset of PD and predominance of the right and left side, severity, duration, UPDRS scores and treatment did not differ in miR-29c expression levels.

Conclusion: This study suggests that serum miR-29c expression level might be potential biomarker in the diagnosis of Turkish Parkinson’s patients.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/serum-microrna-expression-levels-in-turkish-patients-with-parkinsons-disease/