Expression profile of serum LncRNAs MALAT-1 and CCAT-1 and their correlation with Mayo severity score in ulcerative colitis patients can diagnose and predict the prognosis of the disease.

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) has emerged as an accelerated-incidence chronic condition. UC has been identified as a precancerous lesion for colorectal cancer. Up-to-date genomic research revealed the value of many noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) in UC pathogenesis, diagnosis, and prognosis. Aim: The present study was aimed at measuring both MALAT-1 and CCAT-1 in the sera of UC patients as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and correlating them with the Mayo score which is a novel predictive indicator of malignant transformation as well as with clinicopathological characteristics of the disease. Patients and methods: Sixty-six UC patients and 80 healthy individuals participated in this study, the serum fold changes of MALAT-1 and CCAT-1 were measured by using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Results: The current study findings include overexpressed lncRNAs MALAT-1 and CCAT-1 in the sera of ulcerative colitis patients [(median (IQR) = 2.290 (0.16-9.36), mean ± SD = 3.37 ± 3.904 for MALAT-1, and median (IQR) = 7.305 (0.57-16.96), mean ± SD = 6.81 ± 4.002 for CCAT-1 than controls, ROC curve analysis reported that these genes could predict UC. Both genes were positively correlated with each other which enforces their synergistic effects. Both genes are diagnostic for UC patients.We related studied genes to the severity of the disease. In addition to a significant positive correlation between each gene with ESR and Mayo score, we further classified the patients according to severity (according to Mayo score to remission, mild, moderate, and severe groups) with the following results; lower levels of MALAT-1 and CCAT-1 were significantly associated with mild disease and increased gradually with more severe forms of the disease (p < 0.05). Linear regression analysis with Mayo Score as a dependent variable revealed that only the predictive power of CCAT-1 and ESR are significant. Moreover, ROC curve analysis when compared to that of the Mayo score revealed that CCAT-1 reached 99 % accuracy. In summary, both genes are prognostic factors for UC patients. Conclusion: MALAT-1 and CCAT-1 are diagnostic and prognostic serum biomarkers of ulcerative colitis.

Altered expression of serum lncRNA CASC2 and miRNA-21-5p in COVID-19 patients.

Infection by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a high incidence of spread. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization proclaimed a public health emergency of worldwide concern. More than 6.9 million deaths and more than 768 million confirmed cases had been reported worldwide as of June 18, 2023. This study included 51 patients and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. The present study aimed to identify the expression levels of lncRNA CASC2 and miRNA-21-5p (also known as miRNA-21) in COVID-19 patients and their relation to the clinicopathological characteristics of the disease. The expression levels of noncoding RNAs were measured by RT-PCR technique. Results detected that CASC2 was significantly downregulated while miRNA-21-5p was significantly upregulated in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy subjects. A significant negative correlation was found between CASC2 and miRNA-21-5p. ROC curve analysis used to distinguish COVID-19 patients from controls. MiRNA-21-p serum expression level had a significant positive association with temperature and PO2 (p = 0.04 for each). These findings indicate that CASC2 and miRNA-21-p might be used as potential diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers in COVID-19.

LncRNAs NEAT1, HOTAIR, and GAS5 expression in hypertensive and non-hypertensive associated cerebrovascular stroke patients, and its link to clinical characteristics and severity score of the disease.

Background: Cerebrovascular stroke (CVS) is a potentially fatal disease. The most common risk factor for CVS is hypertension. Aim: While most studies in the field have focused on the functional roles of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) NEAT1, GAS5, and HOTAIR in CVS, less attention has been paid to their clinical relevance to stroke incidence and prognosis. Also, a link has not yet been made between these lncRNAs and hypertension, our study aim was to investigate whether the expression of these lncRNAs differed between CVS with and without hypertension, as well as to compare each group to controls. Method: In total, 181 CVS patients were enrolled, including 91 chronic hypertensive patients with stroke, 90 stroke patients without hypertension, and 51 control subjects. blood samples were collected on the day of recruitment from patients with CVS and controls. Real-time qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression of target lncRNAs in serum. Results: When compared to controls, there was a statistically higher level of lncNEAT1 in each case group (median (IQR) = 3.68 (1.35-7.35) and 3.05 (0.95-6.45) for the hypertensive and non-hypertensive groups, respectively, with a significantly higher level in the hypertensive group (P = 0.04). When compared to controls, lncHOTAIR was significantly downregulated in all case groups (medians in hypertensive and non-hypertensive patients were 0.13, and 0.34, respectively), with a significantly lower level in the hypertensive group (P = 0.05). LncGAS5 levels in patients were significantly lower (median (IQR) = 0.16 (0.02-0.55) and 0.25 (0.03-0.99) for the hypertensive and non-hypertensive groups, respectively) compared to controls, with a significantly lower level in the hypertensive group (P = 0.02). There was a significant positive correlation between NEAT1 and GAS5, but a significant negative correlation between each with HOTAIR in both patients' groups. We also detected a significant negative correlation between each NEAT1 or GAS5 and NIHSS score while a significant positive correlation between HOTAIR and NIHSS. ROC curve analysis for GAS5 was able to differentiate patients with CVS hypertensive from patients with CVS non-hypertensive. Conclusion: Patients in each case group had statistically higher levels of NEAT1 and lower levels of HOTAIR and GAS5 compared to control levels, with higher significant NEAT1 but lower significant HOTAIR and GAS5 in the hypertensive group. Therefore, lncRNAs NEAT1, HOTAIR, and GAS5 could be used as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of CVS that correlate with NIHSS score and could produce a novel target for CVS therapy.

Serum lncRNAs, NBAT-1, and FOXCUT signature in hepatocellular carcinoma developed on top of chronic hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND: Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is a universal health problem responsible for 8.2% of all cancer deaths. Numerous risk factors were documented to be contributed to HCC development with viral hepatitis C ranking as the major predisposing factor in Egypt. The presence of a detectable amount of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the circulation is linked to the development and spread of tumors. LncRNAs NBAT-1 and FOXCUT expression levels were used as genetic markers for the detection of gastrointestinal tract cancers. We hypothesized that serum expression levels of NBAT-1 and FOXCUT are new biomarkers for HCC that are related to laboratory and pathological markers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 165 hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related HCC Egyptian patients, 180 HCV-infected noncancer patients, and 180 healthy controls, the serum expression levels of NBAT-1 and FOXCUT were measured by using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: This study's results include that medians (inter-quartile range [IQRs]) of NBAT-1 in HCC and HCV patients were (1.9 [0.87-4.94], 10.01 [7.34-13.29] respectively) which exhibited significantly higher expression than controls, while the medians (IQRs) of FOXCUT in HCC and HCV patients were (0.15 [0.04-0.52], 6.42 [2.49-10.10], respectively) that exhibited significantly lower expression than controls regarding HCC patients but significantly higher expression than controls regarding HCV patients. In comparing serum fold changes of NBAT-1 and FOXCUT between HCC patients and HCV patients; we obtained significantly higher levels of target genes in HCV patients (p < 0.001) than in HCC patients. Also, a positive correlation was detected between NBAT-1 and FOXCUT in HCC group (r = 0.262, p = 0.001) and in HCV group (r = 0.937, p < 0.001). Higher serum NBAT-1 and FOXCUT were significantly associated with better clinical and laboratory data of the disease. Multivariate regression analysis showed that FOXCUT was an independent predictor for HCC among HCV patients (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our study cited that NBAT-1 and FOXCUT could be considered new diagnostic serum biomarkers for HCC on top of HCV.

Association Between rs1859168/HOTTIP Expression Level and Colorectal Cancer and Adenomatous Polyposis Risk in Egyptians.

LncRNA HOTTIP is a new lncRNA that is strictly linked to the susceptibility, growth, propagation, and prognosis of several human cancers together with colorectal cancer. lncRNA HOTTIP rs1859168 may confer colorectal cancer susceptibility through regulating its gene expression level. To elucidate its role in colorectal cancer risk, we genotyped rs1859168 A>C and measured serum HOTTIP expression level in colorectal cancer, adenomatous polyposis patients and controls by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The results displayed that rs1859168 A>C single-nucleotide polymorphism is a risk factor for colorectal cancer among adenomatous polyposis patients and controls, AC versus CC genotypes [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.256, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.316-3.868, P = 0.003] when compared with controls and (adjusted OR = 9.521, 95% CI = 3.330-27.217, P < 0.0001) when compared with adenomatous polyposis. Serum HOTTIP was upregulated in the colorectal cancer group when compared with adenomatous polyposis or controls [median (interquartile range) = 3.64 (2.46-5.02) (P < 0.0001)]. A significant difference in serum HOTTIP was found to be associated with different rs1859168 genotypes. rs1859168 A>C and higher serum HOTTIP were significantly associated with distant metastasis, lymph nodes metastasis, and grade III of colorectal cancer. Both rs8159168 and high HOTTIP confer increased risk for colorectal cancer development. [Figure: see text].