Novel potential biomarkers for multiple sclerosis: Evaluating the expression levels of miR-141, miR-9, MEG3, IFNG-AS1 and their relationship to different LINC00513 polymorphisms

More pilot studies are emerging with the goal of contributing to the bigger puzzle of personalized multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies. This study aimed to examine the potential benefit of using four non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) (miR-141, miR-9, MEG3, and IFNG-AS1) as prognostic and/or diagnostic biomarkers for MS. We also aimed to examine the relationship between two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs547311 and rs205764 on the long intergenic non-coding RNA (linc)-00513 gene (genotyping), and the expression levels of the aforementioned genes (qPCR), in addition to IFN-g (ELISA). The diagnostic potential of these ncRNAs was assessed through comparing their expression levels in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients (n=55) to healthy controls (n=24), whereas the prognostic potential was evaluated through comparing intra-patient parameters (onset, disease activity, treatment response, and Estimated Disability Status Score (EDSS)). Genotypes at both SNPs were also examined for their relationship to the expression levels of these genes. With the exception of IFNG-AS1, all ncRNAs demonstrated plausible potential of being diagnostic biomarkers (p < 0.05), while our results showed no prognostic potential of these ncRNAs in the context of RRMS. Evaluating different alleles at rs547311 revealed that IFN-g protein level was increased in G/G patients (p=0.0306), and that IFNG-AS1 expression was higher in female G/G patients (p=0.0255). This pilot study may provide evidence of the diagnostic potential of miR-141, miR-9, and MEG3. Additionally, this study may also demonstrate the absence of a linc00513 downstream relationship with miR-141, miR-9, and MEG3, albeit a potential one with IFNG-AS1 and IFN-g.