Down-regulation of circulating microRNA let-7a in Egyptian smokers

• Main Authors: Sanaa A. Rizk, Fateheya M. Metwally, Asmaa M. Elfiky, Asmaa A. Mahmoud, Nadia A. Badawi, Nevin E. Sharaf, Mahmoud M. Elhefnawi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2018-06-01
• Series: Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1687157X1830009X

Altered miRNAs were associated with cigarette smoking. The study aimed to examine the gene expression level of plasma let-7a among healthy smokers and compared it with the non-smokers. Forty subjects were recruited for the present study and classified into 21 smokers and 19 non-smokers, age, and sex were matched. The software that used to design functional primers was MIRprimer. Quantitative real-time PCR was employed to compare the relative expression of plasma let-7a. Results showed that the level of let-7a was down-regulated in smokers to 0.34fold (p = 0.006) that of the non-smokers. Plasma let-7a showed an area under curve (AUC) of 0.749 with sensitivity 43% and specificity 100%. In conclusion, plasma let-7a was significantly down-regulated in the smokers, and it might be considered a candidate biomarker to discriminate between smokers and non-smokers. Keywords: Plasma let7-a, Biomarker, Cigarette smoking, Software MIRprimer