title: Circulating microRNAs in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the pattern of expression of circulating miRNAs in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Microarray and qRT-PCR were used to investigate circulating miRNAs in PCOS during clinical diagnosis. The targets of dys-regulated miRNAs were predicted using bioinformatics, followed by function and pathway analysis using the databases of Gene Ontology and the KEGG pathway.
  
  
  RESULTS
  BMI, triglyceride, HOMA-IR, Testosterone and CRP levels were significantly higher, while estradiol was significantly lower in PCOS than in control groups. After SAM analysis, 5 circulating miRNAs were significantly up-regulated (let-7i-3pm, miR-5706, miR-4463, miR-3665, miR-638) and 4 (miR-124-3p, miR-128, miR-29a-3p, let-7c) were down-regulated in PCOS patients. Hierarchical clustering showed a general distinction between PCOS and control samples in a heat map. After joint prediction by different statistical methods, 34 and 41 genes targeted were up-and down-regulated miRNAs, in PCOS and controls, respectively. Further, GO and KEGG analyses revealed the involvement of the immune system, ATP binding, MAPK signaling, apoptosis, angiogenesis, response to reactive oxygen species and p53 signaling pathways in PCOS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We report a novel non-invasive miRNA profile which distinguishes PCOS patients from healthy controls. The miRNA-target database may provide a novel understanding of PCOS and potential therapeutic targets.
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Department, Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital of Zhejiang Province , Hangzhou , P. R. China.
authors.forename: Cai-Fei
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Wang-Qiang
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu-Tian
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ya-Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Bo
authors.forename: Hui-Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Ruo-Heng
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019295:Computational Biology; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011085:Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D011446:Prospective Studies; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Polycystic ovary syndrome; circulating miRNA; microarray; qRT-PCR