title: MicroRNA-146a and miR-99a are potential biomarkers for disease activity and clinical efficacy assessment in psoriasis patients treated with traditional Chinese medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psoriasis is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease. A number of clinical investigations have indicated that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an effective and safe treatment for psoriasis. Zhuhuang Granule (ZG) is a modified formulation of Zhuhuang Decoction, which is used traditionally in China for the treatment of psoriasis in clinical practice.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Recent studies have found that microRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the pathogenesis of some skin diseases. The objective of our study was to investigate the effect of ZG on the expression of miRNAs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from psoriasis patients and to identify specific miRNA biomarkers for psoriasis disease activity and assessment of clinical efficacy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five psoriasis patients and 15 healthy control subjects were recruited to participate in this study from October 2013 to October 2014. Microarray and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) were used to measure the global miRNA expression in PBMCs from psoriasis patients and healthy control subjects. We also measured the changes in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score and miRNA expression of patients before and after treatment with ZG.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The microarray results showed that 26 miRNAs were upregulated and 13 miRNAs were decreased in psoriasis patients. qRT-PCR validated 3 upregulated miRNAs (miR-146a, miR-31, miR-192-5p) and 2 downregulated miRNAs (miR-99a, miR-200c) in PBMCs from psoriasis patients compared with healthy controls (p<0.01). Moreover, after 8 weeks of ZG treatment, patients achieved a significant reduction in PASI scores. QRT-PCR analysis indicated that the expression of miR-146a and miR-99a is closely correlated with psoriasis severity (R2=0.772, p<0.01; R2=0.672, p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We suggest that both miR-146a and miR-99a may serve as potential biomarkers for disease activity and clinical efficacy in psoriasis patients treated with ZG.
authors: Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 233 Caie North Road, Tianxin District, Changsha, Hunan Province 410005, China.
authors: Zhibo
authors: Z
authors: Yang
authors: Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 233 Caie North Road, Tianxin District, Changsha, Hunan Province 410005, China. Electronic address: Dr_zengbijun@163.com.
authors: Bijun
authors: B
authors: Zeng
authors: Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 233 Caie North Road, Tianxin District, Changsha, Hunan Province 410005, China.
authors: Xueyong
authors: X
authors: Tang
authors: Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 233 Caie North Road, Tianxin District, Changsha, Hunan Province 410005, China.
authors: Haizhen
authors: H
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 233 Caie North Road, Tianxin District, Changsha, Hunan Province 410005, China.
authors: Chang
authors: C
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Dermatology, Traditional Chinese Hospital of Jiangxi Province, No. 445 Bayi Road, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province 330019, China.
authors: Zhangren
authors: Z
authors: Yan
authors: Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 233 Caie North Road, Tianxin District, Changsha, Hunan Province 410005, China.
authors: Pan
authors: P
authors: Huang
authors: Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 233 Caie North Road, Tianxin District, Changsha, Hunan Province 410005, China.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Pan
authors: Department of Dermatology, Wuhan No. 1 Hospital, No. 215 Zhongshan Road, Qiaokou District, Wuhan, Hubei Province 430022, China.
authors: Bin
authors: B
authors: Xu
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C542542:MIRN146 microRNA, human; C561679:MIRN99 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Microarray; PBMCs; Psoriasis; Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM); Zhuhuang Granule (ZG)