Altered Serum Levels of Mir-130b-3p & Mir-148a-3p in Egyptian Pediatric Patients with Juvenile Onset Systemic Lupus Erythema‌tosus and Lupus Nephritis

Document Type : New and original researches in the field of Microbiology.

Authors

1 Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, Medical Research and Clinical Studies Institute, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt

2 Department of Molecular Genetics and Enzymology, Human Genetics and Genome Research Institute, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt

3 Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Background: Juvenile onset systemic lupus erythematous (JSLE) and the accompanying lupus nephritis (LN) (affects up to 80% of JSLE) harbor more aggressive disease courses and major complications with higher morbidity and mortality risks compared to adult onset SLE. Two microRNAs (miRNAs), miR-130b-3p and miR-148a-3p, are strong candidates in the pathogenesis of both JSLE and LN. Objective: Studying serum expression of miR-130b-3p and miR-148a-3p patients with JSLE and LN to evaluate their contribution to their pathogenesis. Methodology: The study included 100 LN, 50 JSLE and 50 healthy controls (HC), reverse transcriptase real time PCR (RT-QPCR) was used for evaluation of serum levels of miR-130b-3p and miR-148a-3p. Results: miR-130b-3p showed decreased expression in JSLE and LN patients compared to HC and correlated inversely with serum creatinine within patients’ groups. miR-148a-3p significantly decreased expression in JSLE patients compared to controls and LN patients. MiR-148a-3p was elevated in LN cases compared to JSLE but not HC showing inverse correlation with duration of LN and serum creatinine. Positive correlation between miR-130b-3p and miR-148a-3p was detected in diseased groups (r = 0.75, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Our study was the first to analyze both miR-130b-3p & miR-148a-3p expression in JSLE and LN and we concluded that both might affect the pathogenesis of JSLE and that miR-148a-3p may significantly contribute to the pathogenesis of LN among JSLE patients.

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