ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

Abstract Number: 1002

Microrna Expression Profiles in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Early Onset Psoriatic Arthritis

G. Ciancio1, Manuela Ferracin2, Barbara Zagatti2, Elena Saccenti2, Valentina Bagnari1, Ilaria Farina3, Matteo Colina4, Marco Seri5, Francesco Trotta1, Massimo Negrini2 and Marcello Govoni1, 1Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Rheumatology Unit-Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria Sant'Anna, Ferrara, Italy, 2Department of Experimental and Diagnostic Medicine, Laboratory for Technologies of Advanced Therapies (LTTA), University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy, 3A.O.U. S.Anna di Cona, Ferrara, Italy, 4Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Internal Medicine A.Ospedale Maggiore, Bologna, Italy, 5Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Pediatric, St. Orsola-Malpighi, Medical Genetics Unit, Bologna, Italy

Meeting: 2012 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Keywords:

Session Information

Title: Genetics and Genomics of Rheumatic Diseases

Session Type: Abstract Submissions (ACR)

Background/Purpose: Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression. It is known that an altered miRNA expression plays an important role in cancer. A new emerging role for miRNAs has been evidenced in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in which miR-146a has gained increasing relevance, psoriasis and systemic lupus erithematosus. No data about the miRNA expression profile in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are available to date. In a preliminary study, we identified 16 miRNAs (9 up- and 7 down-regulated) differentially expressed in a sample of 13 early PsA vs 7 healthy controls (submitted data). Now, our main purpose is to validate the identified miRNA signature in a larger series of patients and controls.  

Methods: Blood samples from 21 consecutive patients with early, active and naïve from treatment PsA (disease duration < 6 months; M:9;W:12; mean age:39,3±8,1; DAS 44: 4,12 ± 0,29; SPARCC Enthesitis Index score: 2 ± 0.5) were collected. As controls, 12 random healthy volunteers (M:4; W:8; mean age 34 ± 11) were recruited. The expression levels of 723 mature miRNAs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBC) were investigated in all patients and controls by using an Agilent miRNA microarray. Differentially expressed genes were identified by applying a two-tailed  unpaired t-test (Graph-Pad).

Results: We identified 3 microRNAs (miR-21,miR-34a and miR-21*), previously described as upregulated in PsA as significantly upregulated also in this new cohort of patients (p 0.01-0.001) compared to controls.

Conclusion: A 3-miRNA signature was identified in patients with early active PsA. The upregulated miR-21, miR-34a and miR-21* appear of great interest to understand the underlying pathogenic processes of PsA . Moreover, their expression in patients with active disease makes them attractive as potential biomarkers.

Disclosure:

G. Ciancio,
None;

M. Ferracin,
None;

B. Zagatti,
None;

E. Saccenti,
None;

V. Bagnari,
None;

I. Farina,
None;

M. Colina,
None;

M. Seri,
None;

F. Trotta,
None;

M. Negrini,
None;

M. Govoni,
None.

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