miR-146a Plasma Levels Are Not Altered in Alzheimer’s Disease but Correlate With Age and Illness Severity
Elisabetta Maffioletti, Elena Milanesi, Abulaish Ansari, Orazio Zanetti, Samantha Galluzzi, Cristina Geroldi, Massimo Gennarelli, Luisella Bocchio‐Chiavetto
Abstract
miR-146a is a microRNA involved in neuroinflammation and ageing; alterations in its expression were described in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, most of the studies conducted so far on this miRNA included a limited number of participants and produced contradictory results. We compared miR-146a levels in plasma from 33 AD patients vs. 28 age-matched non-affected CTRL through qRT-PCR. No difference between the case and the control group was evidenced, but a correlation was detected between miR-146a levels and subjects' age (p<0.001), as well as between miR-146a levels and patients' MMSE scores (p=0.011), supporting a role for this microRNA in ageing processes and disease progression.