MicroRNA Profiling in serum and humor vitreous of patients affected by vitreoretinal pathologies

Abstract

Purpose : To identify the differential expression of miRNAs in humor vitreous and serum of patients affected by vitreomacular diseases (VMD) and rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). Secondly, we studied if perfusion changes over post-operative months are influenced by microRNA expression profile at the time of surgery.

Methods : 38 subjects affected by VR pathologies (n.19 VMD and n.19 RRD) underwent pars plana vitrectomy with vitreous humor sampling, which was compared to serum for miRNAs evaluation. Using the miRCURY LNAtm miRNA Focus PCR Panel (Qiagen), the expression of over 150 miRs was assessed respectively on pooled serum samples and pooled humor vitreous samples of VMD and RRD. Moreover, optical coherence tomography angiography was performed at each visit.

Results : The screening analysis of the miRs demonstrated that 105 common sequences were present in the humor vitreous and serum. The miR-21-5p, miR-451a, miR-222-3p, miR-144-3p, miR-146a-5p, and miR-320a significantly differed in humor vitreous and serum. hsa-miR320a and hsa-miR-144-3p were correlated with perfusion macular parameters.

Conclusions : The role of the upregulated miRs found in the vitreous can be related to the activity of inflammatory mediators through the NFkB pathway, to angiogenesis, and to the regulation of the antioxidant activity through the NRF2 signaling, which are key processes in VR diseases. The significant correlation between their levels and perfusion parameters supports the application of vitreal miRNAs for evaluating and assessing pathological conditions with the potential predictive role in VR disorders.

This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.

 

Fig 1. A) Venn’s diagram depicts the proportion of miRNAs consistently dysregulated in vitreous humor and serum samples. B) Table with 5^th and 95^th percentiles for selection of main interesting miRNA.

 

Fig 2. Graph of miRNAs target analysis. miRTargetLink 2.0 analysis of putative targets was performed for the six miRNAs evaluated in VMD and RRD eyes. In red round are highlighted the miRNAs code and in white round there are the target.