Could plasma derived EV microRNAs serve as biomarkers for psoriatic arthritis

[Fred]

This survey explored whether plasma derived EV microRNAs could serve as biomarkers for psoriatic arthritis.

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Background:
Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) develops in ~30% of patients with psoriasis. The diagnosis of PsA is challenging and there are no reliable molecular markers in clinical use. MicroRNAs are short noncoding regulatory RNAs, which can be actively packaged into extracellular vesicles (EVs) and secreted to the circulation.

Objectives:
To explore whether plasma‐derived EV microRNAs may serve as biomarkers for PsA in patients with psoriasis.

Methods:
Plasma samples were obtained from patients with cutaneous‐only psoriasis (PsC) and patients with psoriasis and PsA. Plasma EVs were isolated using miRCURYTM Exosome Isolation Kit. RNA sequencing was used to identify differentially expressed EV miRNAs in the discovery phase (PsC, n=15; PsA, n=14). In the validation phase (PsC, n=29; PsA, n=28), 41 selected miRNAs were analysed in plasma EVs by qPCR. The association of the identified miRNAs with PsA was assessed by logistic regression analysis.

Results:
RNA sequencing identified 19 plasma EV miRNAs with significantly different levels between PsA and PsC in the discovery cohort. Significantly lower levels of plasma EV let‐7b‐5p and miR‐30e‐5p in PsA vs. PsC were confirmed in the validation cohort, and their decreased levels were found to be associated with the presence of PsA. ROC analysis revealed an AUC of 0.68 (95% CI 0.53‐0.83) for let‐7b‐5p and 0.69 (95% CI 0.55‐0.84) for miR‐30e‐5p.

Conclusions:
Circulating EV microRNA levels are altered in patients with PsA as compared with PsC. Findings of this exploratory study suggest that circulating EV microRNAs may serve as biomarkers for arthritis in psoriasis patients.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com

*Early view funding unknown 

[jiml]

That looks promising although I would be lying if I said I understood it. But it would be interesting to know how many patients plasma was taken for analysis and if just a few it would be interesting to see it on a large scale study