MicroRNAs in neurodegenerative eye disease

Abstract

Introduction: Neurodegenerative diseases affect the central nervous system and cause progressive dysfunction. These debilitating and incurable conditions are characterized by loss of neuronal cell function and are often associated with atrophy of the affected nervous system structures. The retina and the optic nerve are considered an extension of the central nervous system due to their embryonic origin and myelination by oligodendrocytes. Thereby, common physiopathological mechanism may be implicated in the neurodegeneration progress, regulated by key molecules as microRNAs. Aim: To determine the expression profile of microRNAs in peripheral blood in patients with neurodegenerative eye diseases such Glaucoma and Alzheimer´s disease. Methods: Observational, multicentric, comparative study. 50 patients distributed into four groups were included for this study: 10 (20%) with Alzheimer's disease, 20 (40%) with Glaucoma and 20 (40%) healthy control individuals. Results: miR-155 was found to be with tendency to overexpression in the Glaucoma group. miR-483 was found to be significatively overexpressed by five times in the Glaucoma group compared to control individuals. No significant changes were observed for Alzheimer’s disease group in both microRNAs. Conclusion: The preliminary results observed in this study, may suggest that the miR155 and miR483 microRNAs show peripheral blood levels that can be measured in a repeatable and reliable way, this opens the way to a new route of early diagnosis and possible treatment for neurodegenerative eye disease like glaucoma.