Issue release date: 12.11.2024
2Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz Transplant Research Center, Shiraz, Iran
3Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Research Center for Neuromodulation and Pain, Shiraz, Iran
4Tarbiat Modares University, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Department of Molecular Genetics, Tehran, Iran DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.26650-19.3 AIM: To determine the expression profile of miRNA-199a-5p in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) and its correlation to the grade of IDD.
MATERIAL and METHODS: This case-controlled study was conducted during a 6-month period from 2017 to 2018 in two university hospitals in Shiraz, Iran. We included 15 patients with grade 3 and 4 of Pfirrmann and 5 patients with traumatic lumbosacral fractures with grade I. Total discectomy was performed in all the individuals and the samples were sent to the laboratory. The nucleus pulposus (NP) cells were isolated and the RNA was extracted. cDNA was synthesized by reverse transcriptase and the expression was measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCT).
RESULTS: We overall included 20 patients in two study groups. Both study groups were comparable regarding the baseline and clinical characteristics except for age (p=0.026). The fold change (p=0.007), and relative expression (p=0.012) of the miRNA-199a- 5p was found to be significantly higher in patients compared to controls. The fold change (p=0.001), and relative expression (p<0.001) were also associated with the Pfirrmann grading. We found that the area under curve (AUC) was 0.880 (95%CI: 0.721- 0.938) indicative of moderate accuracy.
CONCLUSION: Expression of the miRNA-199a-5p is increased in the IDD. The expression of the miRNA-199a-5p was also associated with the grade of the degeneration based on the Pfirrmann grading.
Keywords : Intervertebral disc degeneration, MicroRNA-199a, Target genes, Pfirrmann grade