Circulating miR-92a, miR-143 and miR-342 in Plasma are Novel Potential Biomarkers for Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Abstract

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that function as post-transcriptional gene expression regulators. The expression profiling of miRNAs has already entered into cancer clinics as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to assess tumor initiation, progression and response to treatment in cancer patients. Recent studies have opened the way for the use of circulating miRNAs as non-invasive diagnosis and prognosis of Acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The aim of this study was to identify plasma miR-92a, miR-143 and miR-342 expression signatures in AML patients to introduce new markers for establishing AML diagnosis and prognosis. Blood samples were collected from 65 AML patients and 50 controls. The expression of three target miRNAs (miR-92a, miR-143 and miR-342) was measured using quantitative real-time PCR method. Plasma levels of miR-92a, miR-143 and miR-342 were significantly lower in AML patients in comparison with control group. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed that the sensitivity and specificity values of miR-92a were 81.5% and 94%, respectively, with a cut-off value of 0.704. The sensitivity and specificity values of miR-143 were 87.7% and 80%, respectively, with a cut-off value of 0.65. The sensitivity and specificity values of miR-342 were 75.4% and 90%, respectively, with a cut-off value of 0.479. Our findings suggest that plasma miR-92a, miR-143 and miR-342 could be promising novel circulating biomarkers in clinical detection of AML.

Keywords: Leukemia; acute; diagnosis; microRNAs; myeloid.

Fig. 1

Box plot of plasma levels of miRNAs in healthy normal subjects and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. A: miR-92a; B: miR-143; C: mir-342

Fig. 2.

Bar Graph of plasma levels of miR-92a, miR-143, and mir-342 in different AML subtypes. §: significant difference in miR-92a expression versus healthy control group; §§: significant difference in miR-143 expression versus healthy control group; ¶: significant difference in miR-342 expression versus healthy control group. (P< 0.05

Fig. 3

Cut-off values of plasma levels of miR-92a, miR-143, and mir-342. A: miR-92a; B: miR-143; C: mir-342. Cut-off values were determined such that they maximized the sum of sensitivity and specificity. Sens.: sensitivity; Spec.: specificity.

Fig. 4

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The ROC plots for miR-92a (A), miR-143 (B), miR-342 (C), and combination of three miRNAs (D) were used to differentiate acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients from normal subjects. AUC: area under the curve.