miR-26a and miR-125b as a promising biomarker for the diagnosis of RRMS patients

Background MicroRNAs have a profound impact on many molecular mechanisms and are dysregulated in some neurodegenerative diseases; they are important contributors to MS pathogenesis. Existing studies indicate that miR-26a and miR-125b play essential roles in MS pathogenesis. Therefore, this survey focuses on evaluating the expression of miR-26a and miR-125 b in MS patients in Iran. Methods A total of 150 blood specimens were acquired from 75 patients diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and 75 healthy individuals for this study. Subsequently, using the Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient technique, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were separated from both groups. Finally, qRT-PCR was performed on the extracted total RNA. Results The findings demonstrate a significant increase in miR-26a (P = 0.0001) and miR-125b (P = 0.019) expression in RRMS patients compared with healthy individuals. Additionally, ROC curve analysis revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.678 with P = 0.0001 for miR-26a, and AUC = 0.7 with P = 0.0001 for miR-125b. Conclusion This study indicates that abnormal expression of miR-26 and mir-125b is likely to serve as diagnostic biomarkers for MS, but further research is needed to confirm this.