Filetti Veronica, Loreto Carla, Falzone Luca, Lombardo Claudia, Cannizzaro Emanuele, Castorina Sergio, Ledda Caterina, Rapisarda Venerando
Human Anatomy and Histology, Department of Biomedical and Biotechnology Sciences, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy.
Epidemiology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori "Fondazione G. Pascale", 80131 Naples, Italy.
J Pers Med. 2021 Nov 15;11(11):1205. doi: 10.3390/jpm11111205.
Fluoro-edenite (FE) is an asbestiform fiber identified in Biancavilla (Sicily, Italy). Environmental exposure to FE has been associated with a higher incidence of malignant mesothelioma (MM). The present study aimed to validate the predicted diagnostic significance of hsa-miR-323a-3p, hsa-miR-101-3p, and hsa-miR-20b-5p on a subset of MM patients exposed to FE and matched with healthy controls. For this purpose, MM tissues vs. nonmalignant pleura tissues were analyzed through droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) to evaluate differences in the expression levels of the selected miRNAs and their MM diagnostic potential. In addition, further computational analysis has been performed to establish the correlation of these miRNAs with the available online asbestos exposure data and clinic-pathological parameters to verify the potential role of these miRNAs as prognostic tools. ddPCR results showed that the three analyzed miRNAs were significantly down-regulated in MM cases vs. controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed high specificity and sensitivity rates for both hsa-miR-323a-3p and hsa-miR-20b-5p, which thus acquire a diagnostic value for MM. In silico results showed a potential prognostic role of hsa-miR-101-3p due to a significant association of its higher expression and increased overall survival (OS) of MM patients.
氟羟铁石棉（FE）是在意大利西西里岛的比安卡维拉发现的一种石棉状纤维。环境暴露于FE与恶性间皮瘤（MM）的较高发病率相关。本研究旨在验证hsa-miR-323a-3p、hsa-miR-101-3p和hsa-miR-20b-5p对一部分暴露于FE并与健康对照匹配的MM患者的预测诊断意义。为此，通过液滴数字PCR（ddPCR）分析MM组织与非恶性胸膜组织，以评估所选miRNA表达水平的差异及其MM诊断潜力。此外，还进行了进一步的计算分析，以建立这些miRNA与可用的在线石棉暴露数据和临床病理参数之间的相关性，以验证这些miRNA作为预后工具的潜在作用。ddPCR结果显示，与对照组相比，在MM病例中所分析的三种miRNA显著下调。受试者工作特征（ROC）分析显示hsa-miR-323a-3p和hsa-miR-20b-5p具有高特异性和敏感性，因此获得了MM的诊断价值。计算机模拟结果显示hsa-miR-101-3p具有潜在的预后作用，因为其较高表达与MM患者总生存期（OS）增加显著相关。
