Premium
Distinct microRNA expression profiles in saliva and salivary gland tissue differentiate patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome from non‐Sjögren's sicca patients
Author(s) -
SemblerMøller Maria Lynn,
Belstrøm Daniel,
Locht Henning,
Pedersen Anne Marie Lynge
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/jop.13099
Subject(s) - saliva , microrna , salivary gland , pathogenesis , downregulation and upregulation , medicine , histopathology , real time polymerase chain reaction , pathology , immunology , biology , gene , genetics
Objectives Increasing evidence suggests that aberrant expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) is involved in the pathogenesis of primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). The aim was thus to characterize the miRNA profile in saliva, salivary gland tissue, and plasma from patients with pSS and compare findings with those of patients having Sjögren‐like disease (non‐pSS). In addition, to correlate miRNA levels and clinicopathological features of pSS. Methods miRNA real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction was performed on saliva, plasma, and salivary gland tissue samples from 24 patients with pSS and 16 non‐pSS in 384‐well plates. T test was used for comparison of miRNA profiles, followed by Benjamini‐Hochberg correction. The discriminatory power of miRNAs was evaluated by receiver‐operating characteristic curves, and Pearson/Spearman correlation was used for correlation analyses. Results In saliva, 14 miRNAs were significantly differentially expressed between pSS and non‐pSS, including downregulation of the miR‐17 family in pSS. In salivary gland tissue of patients with pSS, miR‐29a‐3p was significantly upregulated. Plasma miRNAs did not differ between the two groups, although the miR‐17 family tended to be downregulated. The combination of miR‐17‐5p and let‐7i‐5p in saliva yielded an area under curve of 97% (CI 92%‐100%). Several miRNAs correlated significantly with one another and with salivary flow rates and histopathology. Conclusion Our findings indicate that the miRNA expression profile in saliva may enable to discriminate between pSS and non‐pSS patients. However, further validation in larger cohorts is needed as well as functional analyses of the miRNAs of interest.