RESUMEN
Over the past decade, short non-coding microRNAs (miRNAs), including circulating and fecal miRNAs have emerged as important modulators of various cellular processes by regulating the expression of target genes. Recent studies revealed the role of miRNAs as powerful biomarkers in disease diagnosis and for the development of innovative therapeutic applications in several human conditions, including intestinal diseases. In this review, we explored the literature and summarized the role of identified dysregulated fecal miRNAs in intestinal diseases, with particular focus on colorectal cancer (CRC) and celiac disease (CD). The aim of this review is to highlight one fascinating aspect of fecal miRNA function related to gut microbiota shaping and bacterial metabolism influencing. The role of miRNAs as "messenger" molecules for inter kingdom communications will be analyzed to highlight their role in the complex host-bacteria interactions. Moreover, whether fecal miRNAs could open up new perspectives to develop novel suitable biomarkers for disease detection and innovative therapeutic approaches to restore microbiota balance will be discussed.
RESUMEN
The potential value of microRNAs as new biomarkers for pancreatic cancer (PCa) screening was explored in this study. Fecal microRNAs from stool samples obtained from 29 PCa patients, 22 chronic pancreatitis (CP) patients and 13 normal individuals were extracted, and 7 microRNAs (miR-16, miR-21, miR-155, miR-181a, miR-181b, miR-196a and miR-210) were detected. miR-181b and miR-210 discriminated PCa from normal individuals with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under curve (AUC-ROC) of 0.745 and 0.772, respectively. There was a significant correlation between miR196a and the maximum tumor diameter (Spearman r = 0.516, P = 0.041). These findings suggest that fecal microRNAs such as miR-181b and miR-210 may have potential to be used as new biomarkers for PCa screening.