Avaliação de microRNAs circulantes na esquizofrenia: da desregulação epigenômica a potenciais biomarcadores

Abstract

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a serious and complex pathology that affects about 0.5-1% of the world's population. For the clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia, there are clinical criteria to be evaluated, which include both positive and negative symptoms. In the origin of the disease, there is a close relationship between environmental stimuli, and strong evidence shows that these stimuli have the ability to act on epigenetic mechanisms, which act in the regulation of gene expression. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are stable and potentially reliable biomarkers, and some miRNAs have been previously identified as potential biomarkers for schizophrenia in peripheral samples. Objective: To evaluate the expression profile of circulating miRNA's in patients with schizophrenia (hsa-miR-34a, miR-449a, miR-564, miR-432, miR-548d, miR-572 and miR-652) in relation to control individuals negative for the disease. Methods: Analytical, case-control, cross- sectional study using samples previously collected from patients diagnosed with Schizophrenia (N = 650) and control group (N = 924), who adequately met the inclusion criteria. The samples were analyzed after RNA extraction through its quantification and techniques for obtaining reverse transcriptase reaction and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. All data were analyzed using IBM SPSS22 statistical program. Results: Using the peripheral blood collection method with the intention of finding possible biomarkers for schizophrenia, an increased expression of the miRNA’s miR-34a, miR-449a, miR-564, miR-432, miR-548d, miR-572 and miR-652 was observed in several scenarios analyzed, confronting the case and control groups, as well as variables within the case-group, demonstrating potential diagnostic value.