Upregulation of hsa-miR-125b in HTLV-1 asymptomatic carriers and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis patients

• Published in: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz Vol. 107; no. 6; pp. 824 - 827
• Main Authors: Nicolete, Larissa Deadame de Figueiredo, Nicolete, Roberto, Haddad, Rodrigo, Azevedo, Rochele, Castro, Fabíola Attié de, Tanaka, Yuetsu, Takayanagui, Osvaldo Massaiti, Covas, Dimas Tadeu, Kashima, Simone
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Brazil Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 01.09.2012; Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ)
• Subjects: Adult; Biomarkers - metabolism; Carrier State; Case-Control Studies; Female; Flow Cytometry; Gene Products, tax - metabolism; HAM; hsa-miR-125b; Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 - growth & development; Humans; Male; MicroRNAs - metabolism; Middle Aged; Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic - metabolism; Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic - virology; PARASITOLOGY; TROPICAL MEDICINE; Up-Regulation; upregulation; Viral Load; Virus Replication; upregulation; HAM; hsa-miR-125b
• ISSN: 0074-0276; 1678-8060; 1678-8060; 0074-0276
• DOI: 10.1590/S0074-02762012000600020

The retrovirus human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) promotes spastic paraparesis, adult T cell leukaemia and other diseases. Recently, some human microRNAs (miRNAs) have been described as important factors in host-virus interactions. This study compared miRNA expression in control individuals, asymptomatic HTLV-1 carriers and HTLV-1 associated myelopathy (HAM)/tropical spastic paraparesis patients. The proviral load and Tax protein expression were measured in order to characterize the patients. hsa-miR-125b expression was significantly higher in patients than in controls (p = 0.0285) or in the HAM group (p = 0.0312). Therefore, our findings suggest that miR-125b expression can be used to elucidate the mechanisms of viral replication and pathogenic processes.