MicroRNAs as potential diagnostic biomarkers for bipolar disorder

Abstract

Abnormal expression of microRNAs is connected to brain development and disease and could provide novel biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of bipolar disorder. We performed a PubMed search for microRNA biomarkers in bipolar disorder and found 18 original research articles on studies performed with human patients and published from January 2011 to June 2023. These studies included microRNA profiling in blood- and brain-based materials. From the studies that had validated the preliminary findings, potential candidate biomarkers for bipolar disorder in adults could be miR-140-3p, -30d-5p, -330-5p, -378a-5p, -21-3p, -330-3p, -345-5p in whole blood, miR-19b-3p, -1180-3p, -125a-5p, let-7e-5p in blood plasma, and miR-7-5p, -23b-5p, -142-3p, -221-5p, -370-3p in the blood serum. Two of the studies had investigated the changes in microRNA expression of patients with bipolar disorder receiving treatment. One showed a significant increase in plasma miR-134 compared to baseline after 4 weeks of treatment which included typical antipsychotics, atypical antipsychotics, and benzodiazepines. The other study had assessed the effects of prescribed medications which included neurotransmitter receptor-site binders (drug class B) and sedatives, hypnotics, anticonvulsants, and analgesics (drug class C) on microRNA results. The combined effects of the two drug classes increased the significance of the results for miR-219 and -29c with miR-30e-3p and -526b* acquiring significance. MicroRNAs were tested to see if they could serve as biomarkers of bipolar disorder at different clinical states of mania, depression, and euthymia. One study showed that upregulation in whole blood of miR-9-5p, -29a-3p, -106a-5p, -106b-5p, -107, -125a-3p, -125b-5p and of miR-107, -125a-3p occurred in manic and euthymic patients compared to controls, respectively, and that upregulation of miR-106a-5p, -107 was found for manic compared to euthymic patients. In two other studies using blood plasma, downregulation of miR-134 was observed in manic patients compared to controls, and dysregulation of miR-134, -152, -607, -633, -652, -155 occurred in euthymic patients compared to controls. Finally, microRNAs such as miR-34a, -34b, -34c, -137, and -140-3p, -21-3p, -30d-5p, -330-5p, -378a-5p, -134, -19b-3p were shown to have diagnostic potential in distinguishing bipolar disorder patients from schizophrenia or major depressive disorder patients, respectively. Further studies are warranted with adolescents and young adults having bipolar disorder and consideration should be given to using animal models of the disorder to investigate the effects of suppressing or overexpressing specific microRNAs.

Figure 1

Flow diagram indicating how the review was performed and its contents.