Possible microRNA-based mechanism underlying relationship between chronic spontaneous urticaria and Blastocystis

Serra Örsten; İpek Baysal; Neslihan Akdoğan; Neşe İnal; Ecem Bostan; Samiye Yabanoğlu Çiftçi; Yakut Akyön

doi:10.1016/j.exppara.2022.108453

Possible microRNA-based mechanism underlying relationship between chronic spontaneous urticaria and Blastocystis

Exp Parasitol. 2023 Feb:245:108453. doi: 10.1016/j.exppara.2022.108453. Epub 2022 Dec 28.

Authors

Serra Örsten¹, İpek Baysal², Neslihan Akdoğan³, Neşe İnal⁴, Ecem Bostan³, Samiye Yabanoğlu Çiftçi⁵, Yakut Akyön⁴

Affiliations

¹ Hacettepe University, Vocational School of Health Services, Ankara, Turkey. Electronic address: serra.orsten@hacettepe.edu.tr.
² Hacettepe University, Vocational School of Health Services, Ankara, Turkey.
³ Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Ankara, Turkey.
⁴ Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine Department of Medical Microbiology, Ankara, Turkey.
⁵ Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy Department of Biochemistry, Ankara, Turkey.

PMID: 36584787
DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2022.108453

Abstract

Background: Blastocystis spp. has been proposed as a possible cause of extraintestinal clinical signs such as urticaria pathogenesis.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the differences between microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles of Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) patients in the presence or absence of Blastocystis spp. as well as healthy controls. Additionally, cellular pathways which are affected in the presence of Blastocystis spp. were identified.

Methods: Twenty patients diagnosed with CSU were enrolled in the study and divided into equally two groups according to the presence of Blastocystis spp. Besides, six healthy individuals were included in the study. The expression profiles of 372 human-derived miRNAs have been investigated in serum samples from CSU patients and healthy controls with miScript miRNA PCR Array Human miRBase Profiler.

Results: Compared to Blastocystis-negative (BN)-CSU patients, expression of 3 miRNAs (hsa-miR-3183, hsa-miR-4469, hsa-miR-5191) were found to be downregulated by at least two-fold (p < 0.05) in Blastocystis-positive (BP)-CSU patients. Additionally, the miRNA expression profiles of six healthy individuals (n = 3 Blastocystis-positive, n = 3 Blastocystis-negative) were analyzed and it was determined that the expressions of 7 miRNAs (hsa-miR-4661-5p, hsa-miR-4666a-5p, hsa-miR-4803, hsa-miR-5587-5p, hsa-miR-4500, hsa-miR-5680, hsa-miR-382-3p) increased at least 3-fold in the serum of individuals with Blastocystis-positive compared to Blastocystis-negative subjects. Most down-regulated miRNAs, in BP-CSU patients, affect cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), and signaling pathways therefore, Blastocystis spp. presence may influence the clinical presentation of urticaria by leading to unbalanced immunity. In addition, Blastocystis spp. presence may be influenced TGF- β signaling pathway through altered miRNAs and may be laying the groundwork for the development of CSU in healthy individuals.

Conclusions: As a consequence, this is the first report to show that the miRNA expression profile is affected by the presence of Blastocystis spp. Further miRNA-based studies are needed in order to enlighten the exact underlying molecular mechanisms of the relationship between Blastocystis spp. and CSU.

Keywords: Blastocystis; CCL17; Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU); TGF-β; miRNA expression profile; microRNA.

MeSH terms

Chronic Urticaria*
Gene Expression Profiling
Humans
MicroRNAs*
Signal Transduction / genetics
Urticaria* / genetics

Substances

MicroRNAs