Mead Edward A, Boulghassoul-Pietrzykowska Nadia, Wang Yongping, Anees Onaiza, Kinstlinger Noah S, Lee Maximillian, Hamza Shireen, Feng Yaping, Pietrzykowski Andrzej Z
Laboratory of Adaptation, Reward and Addiction, Department of Animal Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, United States.
Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.
Front Genet. 2022 Jan 20;12:804222. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.804222. eCollection 2021.
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is one of the most prevalent mental disorders worldwide. Considering the widespread occurrence of AUD, a reliable, cheap, non-invasive biomarker of alcohol consumption is desired by healthcare providers, clinicians, researchers, public health and criminal justice officials. microRNAs could serve as such biomarkers. They are easily detectable in saliva, which can be sampled from individuals in a non-invasive manner. Moreover, microRNAs expression is dynamically regulated by environmental factors, including alcohol. Since excessive alcohol consumption is a hallmark of alcohol abuse, we have profiled microRNA expression in the saliva of chronic, heavy alcohol abusers using microRNA microarrays. We observed significant changes in salivary microRNA expression caused by excessive alcohol consumption. These changes fell into three categories: downregulated microRNAs, upregulated microRNAs, and microRNAs upregulated . Analysis of these combinatorial changes in microRNA expression suggests dysregulation of specific biological pathways leading to impairment of the immune system and development of several types of epithelial cancer. Moreover, some of the altered microRNAs are also modulators of inflammation, suggesting their contribution to pro-inflammatory mechanisms of alcohol actions. Establishment of the cellular source of microRNAs in saliva corroborated these results. We determined that most of the microRNAs in saliva come from two types of cells: leukocytes involved in immune responses and inflammation, and buccal cells, involved in development of epithelial, oral cancers. In summary, we propose that microRNA profiling in saliva can be a useful, non-invasive biomarker allowing the monitoring of alcohol abuse, as well as alcohol-related inflammation and early detection of cancer.
酒精使用障碍（AUD）是全球最普遍的精神障碍之一。鉴于AUD的广泛发生，医疗保健提供者、临床医生、研究人员、公共卫生和刑事司法官员都希望有一个可靠、廉价、非侵入性的酒精消费生物标志物。微小RNA可以作为这样的生物标志物。它们在唾液中易于检测，而唾液可以以非侵入性方式从个体采集。此外，微小RNA的表达受包括酒精在内的环境因素动态调节。由于过量饮酒是酒精滥用的一个标志，我们使用微小RNA微阵列分析了慢性重度酒精滥用者唾液中的微小RNA表达情况。我们观察到过量饮酒导致唾液微小RNA表达发生显著变化。这些变化分为三类：下调的微小RNA、上调的微小RNA以及上调后又下调的微小RNA。对这些微小RNA表达组合变化的分析表明，特定生物途径失调导致免疫系统受损和几种上皮癌的发生。此外，一些改变的微小RNA也是炎症调节剂，表明它们对酒精作用的促炎机制有贡献。确定唾液中微小RNA的细胞来源证实了这些结果。我们确定唾液中的大多数微小RNA来自两种类型的细胞：参与免疫反应和炎症的白细胞，以及参与上皮性口腔癌发生的颊细胞。总之，我们提出唾液中的微小RNA谱分析可以作为一种有用的非侵入性生物标志物，用于监测酒精滥用以及与酒精相关的炎症和癌症的早期检测。
