Effect of radiotherapy on the expression levels of miR-150-5p and miR-23a-3p in serum of tumor patients treated with tumor radiotherapy / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the effect of irradiation on the expression of miR-150-5p and miR-23a-3p in human peripheral blood serum by collecting peripheral blood of tumor patients before and after radiotherapy, so as to provide scientific basis for finding radiation biomarkers.Methods:A total of 63 tumor patients treated with radiotherapy from October 2021 to March 2022 were enrolled in this study. The relative expression levels of miR-150-5p and miR-23a-3p in peripheral blood serum in these patients were detected using the real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR) before and after radiotherapy. The differential changes in the expression levels of the two miRNAs in the peripheral blood serum of the patients before and after radiotherapy were compared, and their relationships with factors such as cancer types were analyzed.Results:The relative expression levels of miR-150-5p and miR-23a-3p in peripheral blood serum of the patients after radiotherapy were significantly lower than those before radiotherapy ( t = 4.97, Z = -2.77, P < 0.05). Among different cancer types, the relative expression level of miR-150-5p in the patients with breast cancer, esophageal cancer, or other digestive tract cancer decreased after radiotherapy ( t = 3.47, 2.47, 2.87, P < 0.05), and the relative expression level of miR-23a-3p in the patients with digestive tract cancer decreased after radiotherapy ( Z = -1.99, P < 0.05). The changes in the expression level of miR-150-5p before and after radiotherapy were not affected by gender, age, chemotherapy, and cancer type ( P > 0.05). By contrast, the changes in the expression level of miR-23a-3p before and after radiotherapy were significantly affected by gender, age, and chemotherapy ( t=2.04, -3.34, -2.29, P<0.05). Conclusions:The expression of miR-150-5p in the serum of tumor patients may be affected by radiotherapy, which has the potential to be used as a biological indicator of radiation.