Circulating microRNAs as potential non-invasive biomarkers in pediatric patients with celiac disease

K. S. Amr¹, F. S. Bayoumi², E. Eissa emanessa82@yahoo.com², M. Abu-Zekry³
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Doi
https://doi.org/10.23822/EurAnnACI.1764-1489.90

Abstract
Celiac disease is an enteropathy induced by ingestion of gluten triggering an immune response in genetically predisposed individuals. MiRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that have a role as regulators of gene expression at the post transcriptional level. The aim of this study is to evaluate the possibility of using circulating miRNAs as non-invasive biomarkers in pediatric patients with celiac disease. In addition, we examine the effect of a gluten-free diet on the expression of these miRNAs in serum of CD patients. The expression pattern of miR-21 and miR-31 was estimated in serum of 25 untreated CD patients (recently diagnosed), 25 treated CD patients (on gluten-free diet) and 20 healthy controls using qRT-PCR. Our results demonstrated the significant up-regulation of microRNA-21 in the untreated celiac patients in comparison with the treated group and healthy controls. Moreover, miR-31 expression was significantly under-expressed in the untreated celiac patients in comparison with the treated group and healthy controls. Furthermore, the results showed that miR-21 expression level was significantly positively correlated with the tTG IgA auto-antibodies. In conclusion, circulating miRNA-21 and miRNA-31 could serve as potential non-invasive biomarkers for pediatric CD patients.

Key words
celiac disease, microRNA, gluten free diet, biomarkers, auto-antibodies.