Liming Zhang, Ruiqun Qi, Yang Yang, Xinghua Gao, Hongduo Chen, Ting Xiao
DOI: 10.2340/00015555-3149

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common skin disorder associated with autoimmunity. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous noncoding RNA molecules reported to be potential biomarkers for some autoimmune diseases. In this study, we investigated the association of miRNAs with CSU. A quantitative PCR (qPCR)-based array was generated from sera as obtained from 20 active CSU patients and 20 healthy controls. Upregulated or downregulated miRNAs were validated by reverse transcription qPCR in sera from 59 active CSU patients and 58 healthy controls. The expression of miR-125a-5p was significantly upregulated in CSU sera and serum levels of CCL17 were also significantly increased in CSU patients. Serum miR-125a-5p expressions were found to be further upregulated in refractory CSU cases (n = 10). In 12 CSU patients in remission, serum miR-125a-5p expression and CCL17 levels were significantly decreased as compared with that obtained in active phase patients. These results indicated that miR-125a-5p and CCL17 can serve as potential serum biomarkers for CSU.

Currently, there exist no generally accepted objective biomarkers for chronic spontaneous urticaria. Therefore, the identification of new categories of biomarkers for chronic spontaneous urticaria are urgently needed. To the best of our knowledge, no published information is available regarding serum miRNA as related to chronic spontaneous urticaria. In this study, we provide new and important findings which show that serum expression of miR-125a-5p and CCL17 are significantly upregulated in patients with active chronic spontaneous urticaria and significantly decreased in the remission phase. Moreover, a further upregulation in serum miR-125a-5p expression was observed in refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria cases. These results highlight the significance of miR-125a-5p and CCL17 as potential serum biomarkers for chronic spontaneous urticaria.

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