Circulating miR-3613-5p but not miR-125b-5p, miR-199a-3p, and miR-451a are biomarkers of endometriosis

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to assess the utility of circulating miR-125b-5p, miR-199a-3p, miR-451a, and miR-3613-5p as biomarkers of endometriosis.

Study design: Patients with stage III or IV of endometriosis according to the revised American Society of Reproductive Medicine (rASRM) staging classification, as well as control women, were recruited. We created a prospective study conducted on a group of 48 patients (n = 25 controls, n = 24 endometriosis) who had laparoscopic surgery. Blood samples were taken and plasma miRNA levels were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and assessed with AUC and ROC curves.

Results: MiR-451a and miR-3613-5p were significantly decreased in the plasma of endometriosis patients. miR-451a had a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve 0.8283 and miR-3613-5p had a ROC area under the curve 0.7617. The concentration of circulating miR-125b-5p and miR-199-3p did not differ between endometriosis patients and controls. Plasma miRNA levels did not change with BMI, smoking status, fertility problems, or menstrual pain according to the VAS scale (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Circulating miR-451a and miR-3613-5p levels significantly differed between endometriosis and controls. However, the levels of miR-451a were discordant with previous studies. Therefore, miR-3613-5p may have better potential as the endometriosis biomarker. Circulating miR-125b-5p and miR-199a-3p cannot be used as reliable markers of endometriosis.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Endometriosis; miR-125b-5p; miR-199a-3p; miR-3613-5p; miR-451a; miRNA.