title: miRNAs and other non-coding RNAs in posttraumatic stress disorder: A systematic review of clinical and animal studies.
abstract: In the last couple of years, non-coding (nc) RNAs like micro-RNAs (miRNAs), small interference RNAs (siRNAs) and long ncRNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as promising candidates for biomarkers and drug-targets in a variety of psychiatric disorders. In contrast to reports on ncRNAs in affective disorders, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders, manuscripts on ncRNAs in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated animal models are scarce. Aiming to stimulate ncRNA research in PTSD and to identify the hitherto most promising ncRNA candidates and associated pathways for psychotrauma research, we conducted the first review on ncRNAs in PTSD. We aimed to identify studies reporting on the expression, function and regulation of ncRNAs in PTSD patients and in animals exhibiting a PTSD-like syndrome. Following the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, we systematically screened the PubMed database for clinical and animal studies on ncRNAs in PTSD, animal models for PTSD and animal models employing a classical fear conditioning paradigm. Using 112 different combinations of search terms, we retrieved 523 articles of which we finally included and evaluated three clinical and 12 animal studies. In addition, using the web-based tool DIANA miRPath v2.0, we searched for molecular pathways shared by the predicted targets of the here-evaluated miRNA candidates. Our findings suggest that mir-132, which has been found to be regulated in three of the here included studies, as well as miRNAs with an already established role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) seem to be particularly promising candidates for future miRNA studies in PTSD. These results are limited by the low number of human trials and by the heterogeneity of included animal studies.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Research, Kraepelinstrasse 10, 80804 München, Germany. Electronic address: uschmidt@mpipsykl.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Research, Kraepelinstrasse 10, 80804 München, Germany; Clienia Privatklinik Schloessli, Schloesslistr. 8, CH-8618 Oetwil am See, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Martin E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Keck
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Research, Kraepelinstrasse 10, 80804 München, Germany.
authors.forename: Dominik R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Buell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; PTSD; Posttraumatic stress disorder; miRNA; micro-RNA; mir-132