Psychiatry Investig.  2016 Sep;13(5):549-557. 10.4306/pi.2016.13.5.549.

Circulating Plasma Micro RNAs in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder Treated with Antidepressants: A Pilot Study

• Enatescu V
• Papava I
• Enatescu I
• Antonescu
• Anghel A
• Seclaman E
• Sirbu IO
• Marian C

• KMID: 2354476
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4306/pi.2016.13.5.549

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Significant progress was made in the understanding etiopathogenic factors related to MDD, including through research on the role of micro RNAs (miRs). We investigated plasma miRs as potential markers for MDD in patients treated with antidepressants.
METHODS
At the initiation and at the end of twelve weeks of treatment, blood samples were collected and a structured diagnostic interview and a standardized depression rating scale for the presence and severity of major depression were done. The average decrease in HAMD score was 76.89%. Plasma miR expression profiling was performed by real time PCR. The lists of up-regulated (cut-off=2) and down-regulated miRs were imported into the miRWalk2.0 algorithm and used for target predictions. KEGG database pathways analysis was used to retrieve the pathways significantly targeted by at least two of the miRs.
RESULTS
Of the 222 miRs detected in plasma samples of MDD patients, 40 were differentially expressed after treatment. Twenty-three miRs were significantly overexpressed with fold changes between 1.85 and 25.42, and 17 miRs were significantly downregulated with fold changes from 0.28 to 0.68. Pathway analysis revealed a list of 29 pathways for up-regulated miRs, and 20 pathways for down-regulated miRs. Six dysregulated miRs are common to all the top five pathways (Wnt signaling, Cancer, Endocytosis, Axon guidance, MAPK signaling): miR-146a-5p, miR-146b-5p, miR-221-3p, miR-24-3p, miR-26a-5p.
CONCLUSION
Overall, our miRWalk analysis of changes in plasma microRNAs after treatment of patients with major depression might open a new avenue for the understanding of Escitalopram mode of action and for its side effects.

Keyword

micro RNA; Major depressive disorder; Antidepressants

MeSH Terms

Antidepressive Agents*
Axons
Citalopram
Depression
Depressive Disorder, Major*
Endocytosis
Humans
MicroRNAs*
Pilot Projects*
Plasma*
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Antidepressive Agents
Citalopram
MicroRNAs