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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Molecular Psychiatry
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1507064
This article is part of the Research Topic The Individual and Joint Contributions of Molecular and Environmental Factors on Gene Expression and Psychopathology Development View all 3 articles

Assessing the feasibility of using salivary microRNAs as biomarkers to distinguish between chronic stress and childhood trauma in African American Young Women in an exploratory pilot study

Provisionally accepted
Anisah Bagasra Anisah Bagasra 1Erica Holliday Erica Holliday 1*Omar Bagasra Omar Bagasra 2Pratima Pandey Pratima Pandey 2
  • 1 Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, United States
  • 2 Claflin University, Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The current study assessed the impact of self-reported stress measures on microRNA (miRNA) profiles in saliva exosomes. Saliva is an accessible, non-invasive fluid, and exosomal miRNAs could help (1) measure stress and (2) distinguish individuals with high chronic stress from those with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). miRNAs are small, noncoding RNAs that regulate genes. Prior studies link differential miRNA expression to neurological diseases, stress, PTSD, and anxiety, but detailed miRNA profiling across populations with traumatic and life stressors is limited. This study aimed to identify miRNAs associated with chronic stress or childhood trauma. Method: The study examined African American women from a southern HBCU. Twelve participants completed the SRRS, ACEs scale, and saliva collection. Groups were: Low Chronic Stress (LCS; n = 4), High Chronic Stress (HCS; n = 4), and HCS + High ACEs (HCS+HA; n = 4). A custom Taqman-Array tested fold change in four miRNAs (miR-19b, miR-187, miR-34a, and miR-135-3p). Results: Significant downregulation of miR-19b (𝜒²(2, N=12) = 7.42, p < 0.01, η²= 0.915), miR-187 (𝜒²(2, N=12) = 7.36, p < 0.05, η²= 0.598), and miR-34a (𝜒²(2, N=12) = 7.42, p < 0.05, η²= 0.60) occurred in HCS and HCS+HA vs. LCS. miR-135-3p (𝜒²(2, N=12) = 8.00, p < 0.05, η²= 0.67) was upregulated in HCS vs. LCS and HCS+HA but was not significantly different between LCS and HCS+HA. Conclusion: Salivary exosome miRNA profiling suggests miR-135-3p as a potential biomarker for stress and a predictor of negative health outcomes. HCS+HA did not show miR-135-3p upregulation, suggesting an adaptive stress response following early adversity. The downregulation of miR-135-3p in chronic stress may reflect unreported childhood trauma. Limitations include the small sample size; future research should validate these miRNAs as predictors of physical and mental health outcomes in larger studies.

    Keywords: microRNA, Adverse childhood experiences, Social readjustment rating scale, Women, miR-19b, MiR-187, miR-34a and miR-135-3p

    Received: 07 Oct 2024; Accepted: 08 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Bagasra, Holliday, Bagasra and Pandey. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Erica Holliday, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, United States

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