Department of Dermatology and Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Honjo, Kumamoto, Japan.
Clin Exp Dermatol. 2012 Jan;37(1):34-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2230.2011.04158.x. Epub 2011 Aug 25.
Recently, increased evidence has shown that serum micro (mi)RNA levels are a useful biomarker for the diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic value of various diseases. However, serum miRNA has not been investigated in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), to our knowledge.
To investigate the possibility that serum levels of Homo sapiens miR-142 stem-loop (hsa-miR-142-3p), one of the miRNAs regulating the expression of integrin αV, could be a specific disease marker for SSc.
Serum samples were obtained from 61 patients with SSc and 20 healthy controls. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), dermatomyositis (DM) and scleroderma spectrum disorder (SSD), who did not fulfil American College of Rheumatology criteria for SSc but might develop SSc in the future, were included as disease controls in this study. miRNAs were purified from serum, and miR-142-3p levels were measured with a quantitative real-time PCR assay.
Serum miR-142-3p levels in patients with SSc were significantly higher than in patients with SSD, SLE or DM, and healthy control groups. Patients with increased miR-142-3p levels tended to have a short sublingual frenulum.
Our data indicate that serum levels of miR-142-3p may be elevated specifically in patients with SSc, correlating with the severity of this disease, and may be useful diagnostic markers for the presence of SSc and for the differentiation of SSc from SSD.
最近，越来越多的证据表明血清微小 RNA（miRNA）水平是各种疾病诊断、预后和治疗价值的有用生物标志物。然而，据我们所知，血清 miRNA 尚未在系统性硬化症（SSc）患者中进行研究。
探讨调节整合素 αV 表达的 miRNA 之一——人源 miR-142 茎环（hsa-miR-142-3p）的血清水平是否可能成为 SSc 的特异性疾病标志物。
从 61 例 SSc 患者和 20 名健康对照者中采集血清样本。本研究将系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）、皮肌炎（DM）和硬皮病谱障碍（SSD）患者纳入疾病对照组，这些患者不符合美国风湿病学会 SSc 的诊断标准，但将来可能发展为 SSc。从血清中纯化 miRNA，采用实时定量 PCR 检测 miR-142-3p 水平。
SSc 患者的血清 miR-142-3p 水平明显高于 SSD、SLE 或 DM 患者及健康对照组。miR-142-3p 水平升高的患者舌系带往往较短。
我们的数据表明，血清 miR-142-3p 水平可能特异性升高，与疾病的严重程度相关，并且可能对 SSc 的存在以及 SSc 与 SSD 的鉴别具有诊断价值。
