miR-183-5p Is a Potential Molecular Marker of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

OBJECTIVE: To investigate microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and identify the valuable miRNA biomarkers in diagnosing and monitoring SLE. METHODS: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed to assess miRNA amounts in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from four SLE cases and four healthy controls. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was carried out for validating candidate miRNAs in 32 SLE cases and 32 healthy controls. In addition, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was completed to evaluate diagnostic performance. Finally, the associations of candidate miRNAs with various characteristics of SLE were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 157 miRNAs were upregulated, and 110 miRNAs were downregulated in PBMCs from SLE cases in comparison to healthy controls, of which the increase of miR-183-5p and decrease of miR-374b-3p were validated by qPCR and both showed good diagnostic performance for SLE diagnosis. Besides, miR-183-5p expression levels displayed a positive association with SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) and anti-dsDNA antibody amounts. CONCLUSION: Our data indicated that miR-183-5p is a promising biomarker of SLE.