AIM: To determine expression levels of miRNA-582-5p and miRNA-363 in serum of patients with Glioblastoma Multiforme and assess their biomarker potential.

MATERIAL and METHODS: The study population consisted of 71 subjects including 35 patients and 36 healthy controls. Realtime polymerase chain reaction was used to determine serum expression levels of miRNA-582-5p and miRNA-363 in patients and control individuals. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic potential of miRNA-582-5p and miRNA-363. Serum caspase-9 level was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS: Normalized expression levels of miRNA-582-5p and miRNA-363 were calculated using the 2???Ct method. We found that miRNA-582-5p and miRNA-363 were significantly upregulated in patients compared with healthy controls. High levels of miRNA- 582-5p (Fold change 2.86, p<0.0001) and miRNA-363 (Fold change 3.51, p<0.0001) were significantly associated with Glioblastoma Multiforme. Additionally, ROC analyses demonstrated that levels of miRNA-582-5p [area under the curve (AUC)=0.938, p=0.0001] and miRNA-363 [AUC=0.951, p=0.0001] were significantly different between the groups. In contrast, there was no correlation between levels of serum caspase-9 and those of miRNA-582-5p (p=0.144) or miRNA-363 (p=0.050).

CONCLUSION: High serum levels of miRNA-582-5p and miRNA-363 are associated with Glioblastoma Multiforme, and are potential biomarkers.