title: Circulating miR-125b as a biomarker of Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous small RNAs of 21-25 nucleotides that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expressions. Recently, circulating miRNAs have been reported as promising biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders and processes affecting the central nervous system. This study was conducted to investigate the potential role of serum miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum samples were obtained from 105 probable AD patients and 150 age- and gender-matched normal controls. The serum concentrations of miRNAs miR-9, miR-29a, miR-29b, miR-101, miR-125b, and miR-181c were measured with a real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found both miR-125b and miR-181c were down-regulated while miR-9 was up-regulated in serum of AD patients compared with that of normal controls. Among the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) results, miR-125b alone showed its priority with a specificity up to 68.3% and a sensitivity of 80.8%. Importantly, miR-125b was correlated with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) in AD patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that serum miR-125b may serve as a useful noninvasive biomarker for AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, PR China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, PR China; Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, College of Medicine and Pharmaceutics, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, PR China; Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: yu-jintai@163.com.
authors.forename: Jin-Tai
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, PR China.
authors.forename: Qiu-Yan
authors.initials: QY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, College of Medicine and Pharmaceutics, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, PR China.
authors.forename: Meng-Shan
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, PR China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, PR China.
authors.forename: Ying-Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, PR China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Teng
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, PR China; Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, College of Medicine and Pharmaceutics, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, PR China; Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address: dr.tanlan@163.com.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C531888:MIRN125 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Biomarker; Diagnosis; MicroRNA; Serum; qRT-PCR