Deregulation of microRNA expression in monocytes and CD4(+) T lymphocytes from patients with axial spondyloarthritis

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (MiRs) play an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases. This study is the first to investigate miR expression profiles in purified CD4(+) T lymphocytes and CD14(+) monocytes from patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) using a high-throughput qPCR approach. METHODS: A total of 81 axSpA patients fulfilling the 2009 ASAS classification criteria, and 55 controls were recruited from October 2014 to July 2017. CD14(+) monocytes and CD4(+) T lymphocytes were isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. MiR expression was investigated by qPCR using the Exiqon Human MiRnome panel I analyzing 372 miRNAs. Differentially expressed miRNAs identified in the discovery cohort were validated in the replication cohort. RESULTS: We found a major difference in miR expression patterns between T lymphocytes and monocytes regardless of the patient or control status. Comparing disease-specific differentially expressed miRs, 13 miRs were found consistently deregulated in CD14(+) cells in both cohorts with miR-361-3p, miR-223-3p, miR-484, and miR-16-5p being the most differentially expressed. In CD4(+) T cells, 11 miRs were differentially expressed between patients and controls with miR-16-1-3p, miR-28-5p, miR-199a-5p, and miR-126-3p were the most strongly upregulated miRs among patients. These miRs are involved in disease relevant pathways such as inflammation, intestinal permeability or bone formation. Mir-146a-5p levels correlated inversely with the degree of inflammation in axSpA patients. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate a consistent deregulation of miRs in both monocytes and CD4(+) T cells from axSpA patients, which could contribute to the pathophysiology of the disease with potential interest from a therapeutic perspective. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13075-019-1829-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.