Sadlon A, Takousis P, Evangelou E, Prokopenko I, Alexopoulos P, Udeh-Momoh CM, Price G, Middleton L, Perneczky R. Association of Blood MicroRNA Expression and Polymorphisms with Cognitive and Biomarker Changes in Older Adults.
J Prev Alzheimers Dis 2024;
11:230-240. [PMID:
38230736 PMCID:
PMC10994991 DOI:
10.14283/jpad.2023.99]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Identifying individuals before the onset of overt symptoms is key in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD).
OBJECTIVES
Investigate the use of miRNA as early blood-biomarker of cognitive decline in older adults.
DESIGN
Cross-sectional.
SETTING
Two observational cohorts (CHARIOT-PRO, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI)).
PARTICIPANTS
830 individuals without overt clinical symptoms from CHARIOT-PRO and 812 individuals from ADNI.
MEASUREMENTS
qPCR analysis of a prioritised set of 38 miRNAs in the blood of individuals from CHARIOT-PRO, followed by a brain-specific functional enrichment analysis for the significant miRNAs. In ADNI, genetic association analysis for polymorphisms within the significant miRNAs' genes and CSF levels of phosphorylated-tau, total-tau, amyloid-β42, soluble-TREM2 and BACE1 activity using whole genome sequencing data. Post-hoc analysis using multi-omics datasets.
RESULTS
Six miRNAs (hsa-miR-128-3p, hsa-miR-144-5p, hsa-miR-146a-5p, hsa-miR-26a-5p, hsa-miR-29c-3p and hsa-miR-363-3p) were downregulated in the blood of individuals with low cognitive performance on the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). The pathway enrichment analysis indicated involvement of apoptosis and inflammation, relevant in early AD stages. Polymorphisms within genes encoding for hsa-miR-29c-3p and hsa-miR-146a-5p were associated with CSF levels of amyloid-β42, soluble-TREM2 and BACE1 activity, and 21 variants were eQTL for hippocampal MIR29C expression.
CONCLUSIONS
six miRNAs may serve as potential blood biomarker of subclinical cognitive deficits in AD. Polymorphisms within these miRNAs suggest a possible interplay between the amyloid cascade and microglial activation at preclinical stages of AD.
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