Role of circulating miR 194-5p, miR 106b, and miR 146a as potential biomarkers for epilepsy: a case-control study

Background Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disease. A suitable biomarker for epilepsy diagnosis remains lacking. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) were pronounced as promising biomarkers for epileptogenesis. Objectives To analyze the expression levels of miR 194-5p, miR 106b, and miR 146a in Egyptian epileptic patients compared to control subjects and to detect their correlation to clinical characteristics. Subjects and methods We evaluated the expression levels of miR 106b, miR 146a, and miR 194-5p using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in 50 subjects: 15 patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy, 15 patients with focal epilepsy (3 idiopathic and 12 cryptogenic), and 20 healthy controls. Results miR 106b and miR 194-5p were upregulated in the generalized epilepsy group compared to control; miR 194-5p was significantly downregulated in the focal epilepsy group compared to the generalized epilepsy group and control ( p ˂ 0.05). miR 194-5p was negatively correlated to disease duration in patients with focal epilepsy; the three microRNAs were positively correlated to each other ( p ˂ 0.05). Conclusion Serum miR 194-5P and miR 106b can be used as potential non-invasive biomarkers in the evaluation of idiopathic generalized epilepsy.