A preliminary analysis of microRNA-21 expression alteration after antipsychotic treatment in patients with schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a severe and debilitating psychiatric disorder of unknown etiology, and its diagnosis is essentially based on clinical symptoms. Despite growing evidence on the relation of altered expression of miRNAs and schizophrenia, most patients with schizophrenia usually had an extensive antipsychotic treatment history before miRNA expression profile analysis, and the pharmacological effects on miRNA expression are largely unknown. To overcome these impediments, miRNA microarray analysis was performed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from patients with schizophrenia who were not on antipsychotic medication and healthy controls. Then, using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), we verified the top 10 miRNAs with the highest fold-change values from microarray analysis in 82 patients with schizophrenia and 43 healthy controls, and nine miRNAs demonstrated significant differences in expression levels. Finally, we compared these nine miRNA profiles before and after antipsychotic treatment. Our results revealed that serum miR-21 expression decreased strikingly in patients after antipsychotic treatment. The change of miR-21 expression was negatively correlated with improvement of positive, general psychopathology, and aggressiveness symptoms. This study preliminarily analyzed the possible changes in circulating miRNAs expression in response to antipsychotic medication for schizophrenia, and the molecular mechanisms of this needs to be further explored.

Correlation between the level of microRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and symptomatology in patients with generalized anxiety disorder.

This study investigated the correlation between the level of microRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and symptomatology in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). MicroRNA array was performed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from GAD patients with gender, age, ethnicity-matched healthy controls. Then real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to verify the top 7 miRNAs with the highest fold-change values in 76 GAD patients and 39 healthy controls. It demonstrated that 5 miRNAs showed significantly differences in expression levels (P<0.01). These 5 GAD-associated miRNAs were finally selected into our study to analyze the association between the plasma level of miRNAs expression and symptomatology scores in Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA). Results showed that the level of miR-4505 and miR-663 was negatively correlated with the total HAMA scores in GAD patients (r=0.2228, r=0.264 P<0.05). MiR-663 was selected into the regression equation of HAMA total scores and psychic anxiety symptomatology scores, and it could explain 5.3% of the HAMA total scores and 15.3% of the anxiety symptomatology scores. This study analyzed preliminarily possible circulating miRNAs expression changes in GAD patients, and the expression level of miR-663 highly correlated with psychic anxiety symptoms, further molecular mechanism of which needs to be explored.

Altered microRNA Expression in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Young Patients with Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a debilitating psychotic disorder of unknown etiology, and the diagnosis is essentially based on clinical symptoms. So it is urgent to find an objective and feasible clinical diagnostic index for SZ. MicroRNA array was performed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from young SZ patients and gender-, age-, and ethnicity-matched healthy controls. Then, real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to verify the top 10 microRNAs (miRNAs) with the highest fold change values in 55 SZ patients and 28 healthy controls, and 9 miRNAs demonstrate significant differences in expression levels (P < 0.01). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the combining area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the nine miRNAs was 0.973 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.945-1.000). miRNA target gene prediction and functional annotation analysis showed that there were significant enrichments in several gene ontology (GO) biological process and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathways associated with nervous system and brain functions, suggesting that the differentially expressed miRNAs may be involved in mechanism of SZ. We conclude that altered expression of miRNAs in PMBCs might be involved in young SZ pathogenesis and may serve as noninvasive biomarker for SZ diagnosis.