Javidi-Aghdam Kamran, Faghfouri Amirhossein, Jafarpour Mehdi, Akbarzadeh-Khiavi Mostafa, Safary Azam, Pourbagherian Omid, Khabbazi Alireza
Research Center for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, Biomedicine Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Connective Tissue Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Mol Biol Rep. 2025 Jan 8;52(1):111. doi: 10.1007/s11033-025-10218-7.
Recent studies have highlighted the potential role of several long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease (BD). This study investigated the expression profiles of lncRNA NEAT1 and lncRNA HOTAIR, and their target cytokine genes, IL-6 and TNF-α, in active and inactive BD patients.
This cross-sectional study was conducted on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from 25 BD patients and 25 age-sex-matched healthy controls (HCs). BD activity was evaluated using the BDCAF (Behcet's Disease Current Activity Form) score. Correlation analysis assessed the relationship between BD activity and the expression levels of lncRNAs and their target cytokine genes. The diagnostic potential of the genes was evaluated using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.
The expression levels of NEAT1, HOTAIR, IL-6, and TNF-α were significantly higher in the BD group compared to the HCs. However, there was no significant correlation between the expression levels of these genes and BD activity or the involvement of various organs. A positive correlation was observed between HOTAIR gene expression and IL-6 (R = 0.594, P-value = 0.009) in the BD group. In contrast, no significant correlation was found between HOTAIR and TNF-α or between NEAT1 and TNF-α or IL-6. The ROC curve analysis indicated strong diagnostic potential for the lncRNAs, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.90 for NEAT1 and 0.86 for HOTAIR.
The elevated expression levels of NEAT1 and HOTAIR in BD patients suggest their potential involvement in the disease's pathogenesis, indicating promising targets for future diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in BD.
近期研究突显了几种长链非编码RNA（lncRNA）在白塞病（BD）发病机制中的潜在作用。本研究调查了活动性和非活动性BD患者中lncRNA NEAT1和lncRNA HOTAIR及其靶细胞因子基因IL-6和TNF-α的表达谱。
本横断面研究对从25例BD患者和25例年龄性别匹配的健康对照（HC）获取的外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）进行。使用白塞病当前活动形式（BDCAF）评分评估BD活动度。相关性分析评估BD活动度与lncRNA及其靶细胞因子基因表达水平之间的关系。使用受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线分析评估这些基因的诊断潜力。
与HC相比，BD组中NEAT1、HOTAIR、IL-6和TNF-α的表达水平显著更高。然而，这些基因的表达水平与BD活动度或各器官受累情况之间无显著相关性。BD组中观察到HOTAIR基因表达与IL-6之间呈正相关（R = 0.594，P值 = 0.009）。相比之下，未发现HOTAIR与TNF-α之间、NEAT1与TNF-α或IL-6之间存在显著相关性。ROC曲线分析表明lncRNA具有较强的诊断潜力，NEAT1的曲线下面积（AUC）值为0.90，HOTAIR为0.86。
BD患者中NEAT1和HOTAIR表达水平升高表明它们可能参与疾病发病机制，这为BD未来的诊断和治疗策略提供了有前景的靶点。
