Expression analysis of NF-ƙB-related long non-coding RNAs in bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a mental disorder that leads to abnormal swings in mood, energy, activity level, attention, and the capability to accomplish daily tasks. Several long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are dysregulated in BD patients. We have compared expression levels of five NF-κB-associated lncRNAs, namely ANRIL, CEBPA-DT, H19, NKILA and HNF1A-AS1 in blood samples of BD patients compared with controls. While ANRIL, CEBPA-DT and HNF1-AS1 were significantly under-expressed in BD patients compared with controls, NKILA levels were higher in patients versus controls. Among differentially expressed genes, HFN1A-AS1 exhibited the best diagnostic parameters in the separation of patients from controls (AUC ± SD = 0.86 ± 0.03, sensitivity = 0.82, specificity = 0.82, P value < 0.0001). AUC values for NKILA, ANRIL and CEBPA-DT were 0.71, 0.68 and 0.65, respectively. In accordance with the previously reported participation of NF-ƙB in the pathophysiology of BD, the current study provides evidence for dysregulation of NF-κB-associated lncRNAs in BD.