Holliday Erica, Bagasra Anisah, Bagasra Omar, Pandey Pratima
Department of Psychological Science, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, United States.
Department of Biology, Claflin University, Orangeburg, SC, United States.
Front Psychiatry. 2025 Feb 14;16:1507064. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1507064. eCollection 2025.
The current study assessed the impact of self-reported stress measures on microRNA (miRNA) profiles in saliva exosomes. Saliva is one of the most accessible and non-invasive bodily fluids and exosomal miRNAs in saliva could be useful in (1) measuring stress states and (2) distinguishing between individuals suffering from high levels of chronic stress vs. adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). miRNAs are small, noncoding RNAs that act as gene regulators. Several studies have shown differential expressions of certain miRNA in neurological diseases and in stress, post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and anxiety. Detailed analyses of miRNA expressions and profiling of miRNAs among populations with various exposures to traumatic and life stressors have not been carried out. The goal of our study was to discover miRNAs associated with high chronic stress or childhood trauma.
This study sought to explore miRNA expression in African American young women from a small, southern Historically Black College and University (HBCU). Twelve participants completed the social readjustment rating scale (SRRS), ACEs scale, and saliva collection and were divided into three groups based on ACE and chronic stress score: Low Chronic Stress (LCS; n = 4); High Chronic Stress (HCS; n = 4); High Chronic Stress + High ACEs (HCS+HA; n=4). A custom-made miRNA Taqman-Array tested for fold change in four miRNAs (i.e., and ).
There was a significant downregulation of miR-19b ( (2, N=12) = 7.42, p < 0.01, η²= 0.915), miR-187 ( (2, N = 12) = 7.36, p < 0.05, η²= 0.598), and miR-34a ( (2, N = 12) = 7.42, p < 0.05, η²= 0.60). in both the HCS and the HCS+HA groups vs. LCS. Interestingly, miR-135-3p ( (2, N = 12) = 8.00, p < 0.05, η²= 0.67. was upregulated in the HCS group vs. LCS and HCS+LA. Expression for miR-135-3p was not significantly different between LCS + HCS+HA.
Our analyses shows that miRNA extracted from salivary exosomes can be a reliable biomarker for stress and appears to be the most upregulated between LCS and HCS individuals and a potential candidate to corroborate self-reports on self-assessments and predict negative health outcomes. Given that HCS+HA did not show an upregulation of miR-135-3p but had similar expression in the other three miRs compared to HCS group may indicate an adaptive stress response following early life adversity. Further, downregulation in miR-135-3p in individuals with high levels of chronic stress could point to unknown childhood trauma exposure (e.g. closed adoptions, dissociative amnesia, abuse). A major limitation in this study is the small sample size and future directions include determining the predictive validity of these miRNAs in predicting onset of physical and mental health outcomes for early interventions in larger studies.
本研究评估了自我报告的压力测量对唾液外泌体中微小RNA（miRNA）谱的影响。唾液是最易获取且非侵入性的体液之一，唾液中的外泌体miRNA可用于：（1）测量压力状态；（2）区分患有高水平慢性压力与童年不良经历（ACEs）的个体。miRNA是作为基因调节因子的小的非编码RNA。多项研究表明，某些miRNA在神经疾病、压力、创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）和焦虑中存在差异表达。尚未对不同程度暴露于创伤和生活应激源的人群中的miRNA表达和miRNA谱进行详细分析。我们研究的目的是发现与高慢性压力或童年创伤相关的miRNA。
本研究旨在探索来自一所位于南方的小型历史悠久的黑人学院和大学（HBCU）的非裔美国年轻女性的miRNA表达情况。12名参与者完成了社会再适应评定量表（SRRS）、ACEs量表以及唾液采集，并根据ACE和慢性压力评分分为三组：低慢性压力（LCS；n = 4）；高慢性压力（HCS；n = 4）；高慢性压力+高ACEs（HCS+HA；n = 4）。使用定制的miRNA Taqman阵列检测四种miRNA（即 、 、 和 ）的倍数变化。
与LCS组相比，HCS组和HCS+HA组中的miR - 19b（F(2, N = 12) = 7.42，p < 0.01，η² = 0.915）、miR - 187（F(2, N = 12) = 7.36，p < 0.05，η² = 0.598）和miR - 34a（F(2, N = 12) = 7.42，p < 0.05，η² = 0.60）均有显著下调。有趣的是，与LCS组和HCS+LA组相比，HCS组中的miR - 135 - 3p（F(2, N = 12) = 8.00，p < 0.05，η² = 0.67）上调。LCS组与HCS+HA组之间miR - 135 - 3p的表达无显著差异。
我们的分析表明，从唾液外泌体中提取的miRNA可以作为压力的可靠生物标志物，并且 在LCS和HCS个体之间似乎是上调最明显的，是证实自我评估中的自我报告并预测负面健康结果的潜在候选物。鉴于HCS+HA组未显示miR - 135 - 3p上调，但与HCS组相比在其他三种miRNA中具有相似表达，这可能表明早年逆境后的适应性应激反应。此外，高慢性压力个体中miR - 135 - 3p的下调可能指向未知的童年创伤暴露（例如封闭式收养、分离性遗忘症、虐待）。本研究的一个主要局限性是样本量小，未来的方向包括在更大规模的研究中确定这些miRNA在预测身心健康结果发作以进行早期干预方面的预测有效性。
