Koopaie Maryam, Manifar Soheila, Lahiji Shahab Shokouhi
Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Oral Medicine, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Microrna. 2021;10(1):74-79. doi: 10.2174/2211536610666210506125036.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) includes more than 90% of malignancies of the oral cavity. Early diagnosis could effectively improve patients' quality of life and treatment outcomes of oral cancers. MicroRNAs as non-encoding genes have great potential to initiate or suppress cancer progression. Recent studies have shown that disruption of micro-RNA regulation is a common occurrence in cancers.
This study set out to evaluate the expression of microRNA-15a (miR-15a) and microRNA- 16-1 (miR-16-1) in the saliva of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) patients in comparison with a healthy control group.
This case-control study was performed on fifteen patients with OSCC and fifteen healthy volunteers as the control group. A 5 ml of non-stimulating whole saliva was collected by spitting method from patients and controls and stored at -70°C. The expression of miR-15a and miR-16-1 was investigated using quantitative Reverse-Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR).
MiR-15a and miR-16-1 were downregulated in OSCC patients compared with the control group (p<0.001). The sensitivity of miR-15a and miR-16-1 in differentiating OSCC patients from healthy individuals was 93.3% and 86.67%, respectively, and their specificity was 86.67% and 92.33%, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy of miR-15a was 90%, and miR-16-1 was 93.3%.
The present study showed a decrease in the relative expression of miR-15a and miR-16-1 in OSCC patients compared with healthy individuals. It is probable to introduce salivary values of miR-15a and miR-16-1 as a non-invasive tool for early detection of OSCC. Decreased expression of miR-15a and miR-16-1 in OSCC indicates the possible effective role of these genes in OSCC etiopathogenesis.
鳞状细胞癌（SCC）占口腔恶性肿瘤的90%以上。早期诊断可有效提高口腔癌患者的生活质量和治疗效果。微小RNA作为非编码基因，在启动或抑制癌症进展方面具有巨大潜力。最近的研究表明，微小RNA调控的破坏在癌症中很常见。
本研究旨在评估口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）患者唾液中微小RNA-15a（miR-15a）和微小RNA-16-1（miR-16-1）的表达，并与健康对照组进行比较。
本病例对照研究对15例OSCC患者和15名健康志愿者作为对照组进行。通过吐痰法从患者和对照组收集5ml非刺激性全唾液，并储存在-70°C。使用定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR）研究miR-15a和miR-16-1的表达。
与对照组相比，OSCC患者中miR-15a和miR-16-1表达下调（p<0.001）。miR-15a和miR-16-1区分OSCC患者和健康个体的敏感性分别为93.3%和86.67%，特异性分别为86.67%和92.33%。miR-15a的诊断准确性为90%，miR-16-1为93.3%。
本研究表明，与健康个体相比，OSCC患者中miR-15a和miR-16-1的相对表达降低。有可能将miR-15a和miR-16-1的唾液值作为OSCC早期检测的非侵入性工具。OSCC中miR-15a和miR-16-1表达降低表明这些基因在OSCC发病机制中可能发挥有效作用。
