Significant reduction of long non-coding RNAs expression in bipolar disorder

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been recently emerged as critical modulators of oxidative stress pathway. Likewise, rising evidence currently highlights dysfunction of oxidative stress pathways in bipolar disorder (BD) patients. In the current study, we evaluated the expression levels of H19, SCAL1 (LUCAT1), RMST, MEG3 and MT1DP lncRNAs in the PBMC from 50 patients with BD and 50 control subjects (male/female ratio in each group: 70%/30%). Expression levels of SCAL1, RMST and MEG3 but not H19 and MT1DP were considerably decreased in BD patients compared with healthy individuals. Such significant decrease in the expression of MEG3, RMST and SCAL1 was only reported in male BD patients compared with male controls. Substantial pairwise correlations were observed between expression levels of these lncRNAs in BD subjects. The area under curve values for RMST, MEG3 and SCAL1 were 0.70, 0.63 and 0.61 respectively. On the basis of this finding, RMST had the best efficiency in the discrimination of disease status between BD patients and controls. Taken together, the current results suggest a role for MEG3, RMST and SCAL1 lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of BD. In addition, peripheral expression levels of these lncRNAs might serve as potential peripheral markers for BD.