EXPRESSION PROFILES OF MIR-155-5P AND MIR-518B MICRORNAS IN CIRCULATING LEUKOCYTES OF THE PREGNANT PATIENTS WITH PREECLAMPSIA AND POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME.

CONTEXT

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with increased prevalence of preeclampsia (PE); microRNAs (miRs) could play an important role in the pathogenesis of PE and PCOS.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the expression levels of miRs 155-5p and 518b in blood leukocytes of patients with PE and PCOS.

DESIGN

Using real-time quantitative PCR method, miR-155-5p and miR-518b were examined from PE, PCOS, PE+PCOS, and controls.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

The relative expression of the target miRs in patient samples was compared to control samples. The results were calculated as relative quantification values.

RESULTS

Confounding variables were controlled using analyses for covariance. Significant differences were observed in miR-155-5p (p=0.008) and miRNA-518 (p=0.016) expression levels among the groups. miR-155-5p (p=0.014) and miR-518b (p=0.036) were upregulated in PCOS patients and miR-518b (p=0.028) were increased in cases with PCOS+PE. Near significant difference was found (p=0.06) in miR-518b expression levels in cases with PE, compared to controls. miR-518b was observed to be positively correlated with alanine transaminase in cases with PE (r=0.80; P=0.017) and PE+PCOS (r=0.80, p=0.017).

CONCLUSIONS

Our preliminary findings suggested that expression profiling of miR-155-5p and miR-518b in blood leukocytes were upregulated in pregnant women with PCOS. Moreover, miR-518b was found to be related to PE in cases with PCOS.