Investigation of miR-155 and miR-758 Expression Levels in Peripheral Blood of Alzheimer’s Disease Patients

DOI: 10.26650/experimed.2018.18004 Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible, neurodegenerative disease with an increasing worldwide prevalence. Several different factors are known to play a role in its pathogenesis and genetic predisposition. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which are involved in several biological processes such as cell proliferation, cell differentiation, and metabolism, are also believed to play a role in the pathogenesis of AD. These miRNAs present new areas of interest to researchers in terms of their broad range of target genes, the association with different diseases that appear to be unrelated to each other at the molecular level, and the identification of commonalities between different diseases. Therefore, we aimed at investigating the expression levels of specific miRNAs related to cholesterol metabolism in peripheral blood. Material and Method: Considering the important role of lipid and cholesterol transport in the pathogenesis of AD and the effect of miRNAs on this transport, we intended to investigate the expression levels of miR-155 and -758 in patients with AD and controls using the real-time polymerase chain reaction method. Results: Our results demonstrated that the expression of miR-155 was significantly decreased in patients with AD compared to that in controls. However, there was no significant difference in the expression of miR-758 between patients with AD and controls. Conclusion: A decreased miR-155 expression in the peripheral blood of patients with AD suggests that this miRNA is involved in the pathogenesis of AD through its target genes. However, this relationship between the changes in miR-155 expression and AD need to be reinforced by functional studies