title: Alterations of microRNA-124 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in pre- and post-treatment patients with major depressive disorder.
abstract: Recently, increasing evidence has indicated that dysfunction of microRNA-124 (miR-124) might be involved in the pathophysiology and treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in some animal models of depression. However, the role of miR-124 in MDD patients remains unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the miR-124 expression levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were associated with MDD and to evaluate the effects of antidepressant treatment on miR-124 levels. Quantitative real-time PCR was applied to detect miR-124 expression in 32 pre- and post-treatment MDD patients and 30 healthy controls. Our results showed that expression levels of miR-124 from PBMCs in MDD patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls (p < 0.001), and that the area under the curve of miR-124 from ROC analysis was 0.762 with a sensitivity of 83.33% and specificity of 66.67% in distinguishing MDD patients from healthy controls. In addition, the expression levels of miR-124 were significantly down-regulated after eight weeks of treatment (p < 0.001). MiRNA target gene prediction and functional annotation analysis indicated that altered miR-124 was involved in affecting some important biological processes and pathways related to MDD. These results provide new information on miR-124 involvement in the biological alterations of MDD and in antidepressant effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Shen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China. Electronic address: drliuxiaohua@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Kaida
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Daihui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Wu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Yiru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Yiping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Shunying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China; Institution of Drug Clinical Trials, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, PR China. Electronic address: lhlh_5@163.com.
authors.forename: Huafang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019540:Area Under Curve; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism*; D012372:ROC Curve; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; C509207:MIRN124 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Expression; Major depressive disorder; MicroRNA; PBMC; Treatment; miR-124