Centro per le Malattie dell'Apparato Digerente (CEMAD), Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A. Gemelli" IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli 8, 00168 Roma, Italy.
Dipartimento Universitario di Medicina e Chirurgia Traslazionale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Roma, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Jul 20;23(14):7991. doi: 10.3390/ijms23147991.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) includes ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). These are autoimmune diseases of the gastrointestinal tract with a chronic relapsing and remitting course. Due to complex interactions between multiple factors in the etiology of IBD, the discovery of new predictors of disease course and response to therapy, and the development of effective therapies is a significant challenge. The dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of conserved endogenous, small non-coding RNA molecules with a length of 18-25 nucleotides, that regulate gene expression by an RNA interference process, is implicated in the complex pathogenetic context of IBD. Both tissue-derived, circulating, and fecal microRNAs have been explored as promising biomarkers in the diagnosis and the prognosis of disease severity of IBD. In this review, we summarize the expressed miRNA profile in blood, mucosal tissue, and stool and highlight the role of miRNAs as biomarkers with potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Moreover, we discuss the new perspectives in developing a new screening model for the detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) based on fecal miRNAs.
炎症性肠病（IBD）包括溃疡性结肠炎（UC）和克罗恩病（CD）。这些是胃肠道的自身免疫性疾病，具有慢性复发和缓解的病程。由于 IBD 的病因学中多种因素的复杂相互作用，发现疾病过程和治疗反应的新预测因子，以及开发有效的治疗方法是一项重大挑战。microRNAs（miRNAs）的失调，一类保守的内源性、小的非编码 RNA 分子，长度为 18-25 个核苷酸，通过 RNA 干扰过程调节基因表达，与 IBD 的复杂发病机制有关。组织衍生的、循环的和粪便中的 microRNAs 都被探索为 IBD 诊断和疾病严重程度预后的有前途的生物标志物。在这篇综述中，我们总结了血液、黏膜组织和粪便中表达的 miRNA 谱，并强调了 miRNA 作为生物标志物的作用，具有在溃疡性结肠炎和克罗恩病中潜在的诊断和治疗应用。此外，我们还讨论了基于粪便 miRNAs 开发新的结直肠癌（CRC）检测筛查模型的新观点。
