Expression Analysis of hsa-miR-181a-5p, hsa-miR-143-3p, hsa-miR-132-3p and hsa-miR-23a-3p as Biomarkers in Colorectal Cancer-Relationship to the Body Mass Index

Abstract

This work aims to investigate the expression levels of four preselected miRNAs previously linked to cancer and/or obesity, with the purpose of finding potential biomarkers in the clinical management of CRC developed by patients showing different BMI values. We analyzed samples from a total of 65 subjects: 43 affected by CRC and 22 without cancer. Serum and both subcutaneous and omental adipose tissues (SAT and OAT) were investigated, as well as tumor and non-tumor colorectal tissues in the case of the CRC patients. The relative expression (2^-∆∆Ct) levels of 4 miRNAs (hsa-miR-181a-5p, hsa-miR-143-3p, has-miR-132-3p and hsa-miR-23a-3p) were measured by RT-qPCR. Serum, SAT and OAT expression levels of these miRNAs showed significant differences between subjects with and without CRC, especially in the group of overweight/obese subjects. In CRC, serum levels of hsa-miR-143-3p clearly correlated with their levels in both SAT and OAT, independently of the BMI group. Moreover, hsa-miR-181a-5p could be considered as a biomarker in CRC patients with BMI ≥ 25 Kg/m² and emerges as a tumor location marker. We conclude that both adiposity and CRC induce changes in the expression of the miRNAs investigated, and hsa-miR-143-3p and hsa-miR-181a-5p expression analysis could be useful in the clinical management of CRC.

Keywords: adipose tissue; colorectal cancer; miRNAs; obesity; serum biomarkers.

Figure 1

Correlations (Spearman test) between miRNA levels in serum and adipose tissues (subcutaneous, SAT; and omental, OAT) of colorectal cancer patients, for hsa-miR-181a-5p (A,B), hsa-miR-143-3p (C,D) and hsa-miR-23a-3p (E,F).

Figure 2

Correlations in miRNA levels between both adipose tissues (subcutaneous and omental) of colorectal cancer patients, for hsa-miR-181a-5p (A), hsa-miR-143-3p (B), hsa-miR-132-3p (C) and hsa-miR-23a-3p (D). ¹ Pearson’s correlation test; ² Spearman’s correlation test.