title: MicroRNAs miR-144/144* and miR-16 in peripheral blood are potential biomarkers for naturalistic stress in healthy Japanese medical students.
abstract: Non-coding microRNAs (miRNAs) are suggested to serve fundamental roles in cellular stress responses and in coping with sudden environmental changes in experimental animals. We examined whether naturalistic stressor-responsive miRNAs were detectable in whole blood. Blood and saliva were collected between 16:00 and 17:00 from 10 healthy medical students (5 males and 5 females; aged 22.4±0.8 years, mean±SD) 7 weeks before, one day before, immediately after, and one week after a nationally administered examination for academic promotion. Samples obtained one week after the examination were used as baseline controls. State anxiety and salivary cortisol levels reached maximum levels the day before the examination. Eleven candidate miRNAs (miR-144, -144*, -16, -15a, -19a, -19b, -26b, -30b, -106b, -126, and -142-3p) were extracted using a human miRNA microarray, and quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR confirmed significant elevation of miR-144/144* and miR-16 levels immediately after finishing the examination. miR-16 levels in individual students were positively correlated with those of serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α measured immediately after the examination. Percentage changes in miR-144* and miR-16 levels from immediately after to one week after the examination were significantly correlated with percentage changes in circulating interferon-γ and/or TNF-α levels over the same time points. Our results suggest that miR-144/144* and miR-16 may constitute a part of an integrated response to naturalistic stressors in healthy young adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Stress Science, Institute of Health Biosciences, The University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Sakurako
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katsuura
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuwano
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurokawa
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kajita
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Akaike
authors.forename: Kensei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Toshihito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanahashi
authors.forename: Kazuhito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rokutan
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D015995:Prevalence; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C573415:IFNG protein, human; C554293:MIRN144 microRNA, human; C505362:MIRN16 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma