RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Dysregulated peripheral blood miRNAs in murine experimental and human childhood asthma
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP p3291
VO 38
IS Suppl 55
A1 Nikola Schulz
A1 Sabine Bartel
A1 Francesca Alessandrini
A1 Gaby Heilig
A1 Oliver Eickelberg
A1 Joachim Heinrich
A1 Susanne Krauss-Etschmann
YR 2011
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p3291.abstract
AB The involvement of genetic and environmental factors in asthma is evident. As miRNAs can both respond to the environment and regulate complex signalling networks at the posttranscriptional level they may be implicated in the disease.In previous work we have identified dysregulated pulmonary miRNAs in experimental asthma (ERS Barcelona 2010, abstract 6106). In the present study we were interested to see if selected lung miRNAs are also altered in murine peripheral blood and whether these changes are similar in peripheral blood of asthmatic children. MiRNAs were quantified by rt-qPCR in blood from ovalbumin sensitized and challenged Balb/c mice and controls. Ten year old children were selected based on the following criteria: current allergic asthma, absence of acute infections and ETS exposure. Age matched controls from the same cohort were included when they never had asthma and were free from acute infections. MiRNAs were quantified in bio-banked blood samples.Out of 10 children with diagnosed asthma 6 had a record of atopic eczema at any time and 4 had had allergic rhinitis ever.A set of 5 differentially regulated miRNAs (miRNA 17-5p, 21, 144, 181a, 451) in murine lung were chosen to be examined in blood samples. Murine blood and lung tissue miRNAs showed inverse expression patterns. Murine und paediatric blood samples showed the same trend of regulation compared to healthy controls. In this study we found opposite expression of selected miRNAs in lung tissue compared to blood of mice with an asthmatic phenotype. This expression pattern was similar in human blood samples of asthmatic children. These results call for further studies to explore blood miRNAs as potential biomarkers in asthma.