Human Genetics and Genome Research Division, Immunogenetics Department, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt.
Department of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, Al Kasr Alainy, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Lupus. 2021 Jun;30(7):1180-1187. doi: 10.1177/09612033211010328. Epub 2021 Apr 17.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease with marked variation in its clinical presentation. Juvenile-onset SLE (jSLE) exhibits an aggressive clinical phenotype and severe complications. Dysregulated expression of microRNAs (miRs) in immune cells from patients with SLE has been found. We aim to evaluate the association of miR-125a with the clinical and laboratory characteristics, disease activity and inflammatory cytokines of jSLE patients.
60 jSLE patients and 25 normal controls were involved in the study. The expression pattern of miR-125a was determined in plasma of all subjects using qRT-PCR. In addition, plasma levels of IL-17 and IFN-γ were examined using ELISA. The correlation of miR-125a expression with the clinical manifestations and disease activity of jSLE patients was analyzed. Also, its association with the inflammatory cytokines was investigated in jSLE patients.
Our findings showed that miR-125a expression levels were significantly reduced in jSLE patients compared to normal controls ( < 0.01) and these expression levels differed based on the clinical variability of patients. In addition, plasma levels of IL-17 and IFN-γ in jSLE patients were significantly higher than healthy controls ( < 0.01). Finally, miR-125a expression had significant negative associations with each of SLEDAI-2K ( < 0.01), SLICC ( < 0.01), ESR ( < 0.05), proteinuria ( < 0.01) and IL-17 levels ( < 0.01) in jSLE patients.
Our findings postulate that miR-125a could act as a candidate therapeutic target for its possible regulation of inflammation in jSLE patients.
系统性红斑狼疮（SLE）是一种慢性自身免疫性疾病，其临床表现差异很大。幼年发病的系统性红斑狼疮（jSLE）表现出侵袭性的临床表型和严重的并发症。已发现SLE 患者免疫细胞中 microRNAs（miRs）的表达失调。我们旨在评估 miR-125a 与 jSLE 患者的临床和实验室特征、疾病活动度和炎症细胞因子的相关性。
本研究纳入了 60 名 jSLE 患者和 25 名正常对照者。采用 qRT-PCR 检测所有受试者血浆中 miR-125a 的表达模式。此外，采用 ELISA 检测血浆中 IL-17 和 IFN-γ 的水平。分析 miR-125a 表达与 jSLE 患者临床表现和疾病活动度的相关性，并在 jSLE 患者中研究其与炎症细胞因子的相关性。
我们的研究结果表明，与正常对照组相比，jSLE 患者的 miR-125a 表达水平显著降低（ < 0.01），且根据患者的临床变异性而有所不同。此外，jSLE 患者的血浆中 IL-17 和 IFN-γ 水平明显高于健康对照组（ < 0.01）。最后，miR-125a 表达与 jSLE 患者的 SLEDAI-2K（ < 0.01）、SLICC（ < 0.01）、ESR（ < 0.05）、蛋白尿（ < 0.01）和 IL-17 水平（ < 0.01）均呈显著负相关。
我们的研究结果表明，miR-125a 可能作为 jSLE 患者炎症调节的候选治疗靶点。
