Department of Neuroscience, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Center of Gender Specific Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Apr 23;22(9):4423. doi: 10.3390/ijms22094423.
Sex is a significant variable in the prevalence and incidence of neurological disorders. Sex differences exist in neurodegenerative disorders (NDs), where sex dimorphisms play important roles in the development and progression of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In the last few years, some sex specific biomarkers for the identification of NDs have been described and recent studies have suggested that microRNA (miRNA) could be included among these, as influenced by the hormonal and genetic background. Failing to consider the possible differences between males and females in miRNA evaluation could introduce a sex bias in studies by not considering some of these sex-related biomarkers. In this review, we recapitulate what is known about the sex-specific differences in peripheral miRNA levels in neurodegenerative diseases. Several studies have reported sex-linked disparities, and from the literature analysis miR-206 particularly has been shown to have a sex-specific involvement. Hopefully, in the near future, patient stratification will provide important additional clues in diagnosis, prognosis, and tailoring of the best therapeutic approaches for each patient. Sex-specific biomarkers, such as miRNAs, could represent a useful tool for characterizing subgroups of patients.
性别是神经退行性疾病（NDs）发病和流行的一个重要变量。在神经退行性疾病中存在性别差异，性别二态性在阿尔茨海默病、帕金森病和肌萎缩侧索硬化症的发展和进展中起着重要作用。在过去的几年中，已经描述了一些用于识别 NDs 的性别特异性生物标志物，最近的研究表明，微 RNA（miRNA）可能包括在内，因为其受到激素和遗传背景的影响。如果在 miRNA 评估中未能考虑到男性和女性之间可能存在的差异，那么由于不考虑这些与性别相关的生物标志物之一，可能会在研究中引入性别偏差。在这篇综述中，我们总结了已知的与神经退行性疾病外周 miRNA 水平的性别特异性差异。几项研究报告了与性别相关的差异，并且从文献分析来看，miR-206 特别显示出具有性别特异性的参与。希望在不久的将来，患者分层将为每个患者的诊断、预后和定制最佳治疗方法提供重要的额外线索。性别特异性生物标志物，如 miRNA，可能是描述患者亚组的有用工具。
