Role of circulating miR 194-5p, miR 106b, and miR 146a as potential biomarkers for epilepsy: a case-control study

Abstract

Background: Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disease. A suitable biomarker for epilepsy diagnosis remains lacking. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) were pronounced as promising biomarkers for epileptogenesis. Objectives: To analyze the expression levels of miR 194-5p, miR 106b, and miR 146a in Egyptian epileptic patients compared to control subjects and to detect their correlation to clinical characteristics. Subjects and methods: We evaluated the expression levels of miR 106b, miR 146a, and miR 194-5p using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in 50 subjects: 15 patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy, 15 patients with focal epilepsy (3 idiopathic and 12 cryptogenic), and 20 healthy controls. Results: miR 106b and miR 194-5p were upregulated in the generalized epilepsy group compared to control; miR 194-5p was significantly downregulated in the focal epilepsy group compared to the generalized epilepsy group and control (p ˂ 0.05). miR 194-5p was negatively correlated to disease duration in patients with focal epilepsy; the three microRNAs were positively correlated to each other (p ˂ 0.05). Conclusion: Serum miR 194-5P and miR 106b can be used as potential non-invasive biomarkers in the evaluation of idiopathic generalized epilepsy.