MicroRNA Expression in Amniotic Fluid Cells

The Role of microRNAs Identified in the Amniotic Fluid

AIM

The study aimed to provide an overall view of current data considering the presence of microRNAs in amniotic fluid.

METHODS

The available literature in MEDLINE, regarding the role of the amniotic fluid in pregnancy and fetal development, was searched for related articles including terms such as "microRNA", "Amniotic fluid", "Adverse outcome" and others.

RESULTS

The amniotic fluid has an undoubtedly significant part in fetal nutrition, with a protecting and thermoregulatory role alongside. MicroRNAs have proven to be highly expressed during pregnancy in many body liquids including amniotic fluid and are transferred between cells loaded in exosomes, while they are also implicated in many processes during fetal development and could be potential biomarkers for early prediction of adverse outcomes.

CONCLUSION

Current knowledge reveals that amniotic fluid microRNAs participate in many developmental and physiological processes of pregnancy including proliferation of fibroblasts, fetal development, angiogenesis, cardioprotection, activation of signaling pathways, differentiation and cell motility, while the expression profile of specific microRNAs has a potential prognostic role in the prediction of Down syndrome, congenital hydronephrosis and kidney fibrosis.

Traumatic brain injury: classification, models, and markers

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Due to its high incidence rate and often long-term sequelae, TBI contributes significantly to increasing costs of health care expenditures annually. Unfortunately, advances in the field have been stifled by patient and injury heterogeneity that pose a major challenge in TBI prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. In this review, we briefly discuss the causes of TBI, followed by its prevalence, classification, and pathophysiology. The current imaging detection methods and animal models used to study brain injury are examined. We discuss the potential use of molecular markers in detecting and monitoring the progression of TBI, with particular emphasis on microRNAs as a novel class of molecular modulators of injury and its repair in the neural tissue.