AUTHOR=Hashemian Fatemeh , Ghafouri-Fard Soudeh , Arsang-Jang Shahram , Mirzajani Sara , Fallah Hamid , Mehvari Habibabadi Jafar , Sayad Arezou , Taheri Mohammad 

TITLE=Epilepsy Is Associated With Dysregulation of Long Non-coding RNAs in the Peripheral Blood

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2019.00113

DOI=10.3389/fmolb.2019.00113

ISSN=2296-889X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a group of functional transcripts that are not translated to proteins. Recent investigations have underscored their role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> In the current investigation, we quantified expression levels of four lncRNAs (<italic>HOXA-AS2, SPRY4-IT1, MEG3</italic>, and <italic>LINC-ROR</italic>) in peripheral blood of epileptic patients and normal controls.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Expression of <italic>HOXA-AS2</italic> was significantly higher in patients compared with controls (Posterior beta = 1.982, <italic>P</italic> = 0.001). We detected interaction effects of gender on expression of <italic>HOXA-AS2</italic> (<italic>P</italic> = 0.012). Further analyses showed over-expression of <italic>HOXA-AS2</italic> in male patients compared with male controls (<italic>P</italic> = 0.003), in spite of similar levels of expression between female cases and female controls (<italic>P</italic> = 0.77). Expression of <italic>SPRY4-IT1</italic> was higher in total patients compared with total controls (Posterior beta = 1.27, <italic>P</italic> = 0.02). Such difference was only observed between male patients and male controls when dividing study participants based on their gender (<italic>P</italic> = 0.012). There was no significant difference in expression of <italic>MEG3</italic> and <italic>LINC-ROR</italic> between patients and controls.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Expression levels of all lncRNAs were correlated with each other with r values ranging from 0.61 to 0.76 (<italic>P</italic> &lt; 0.0001). However, expressions of none of lncRNAs were correlated with age of study participants. The current data implies a putative role for two lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of epilepsy and warrants future functional studies to verify the observed association.</p>