Abnormal expression of miR-3653-3p, caspase 1, IL-1[beta] in peripheral blood of schizophrenia

• Published in: BMC psychiatry Vol. 23; no. 1
• Main Authors: Zhao, Xin-ling, Liu, Yi-lin, Long, Qing, Zhang, Yun-qiao, You, Xu, Guo, Ze-yi, Cao, Xiang, Yu, Lei, Qin, Fu-yi, Teng, Zhao-wei, Zeng, Yong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central Ltd 09.11.2023
• Subjects: China
• ISSN: 1471-244X; 1471-244X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12888-023-05182-0

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic, highly relapsing, severe mental disorder with an unclear etiology. Cytokine-mediated neuroimmune abnormalities have been repeatedly revealed. IL-1[beta] was reported to play a vital role in expanding the inflammatory response. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is poorly understood. In this study, we found that miR-3653-3p with the NLRP3 binding site in Targetscan was differentially expressed in miRNA high-throughput sequencing in schizophrenia (SCZ), and indeed, its downregulation in SCZ peripheral blood was also verified by RT-qPCR (P-value = 0.015). Furthermore, we found that the mRNAs of caspase 1 and IL-1[beta] are elevated in people who suffer from SCZ (P = 0.044 and P = 0.001, respectively). Moreover, the interaction of NLRP3, Caspase1, and IL-1[beta] was found in the peripheral blood of patients with SCZ. The expression level of miR-3653-3p was negatively correlated with NLRP3 and IL-1[beta] mRNA contents (r = 0.487, P = 0.04 and r = 0.508, P = 0.037, respectively). NLRP3 mRNA was positively correlated with caspase1 mRNA. Meanwhile, the expression of miR-3653-3p was also negatively correlated with negative symptom subscores of PANSS (r = 0.450, P = 0.046). IL-1[beta] mRNA is positively correlated with the total scores of PANSS (r = 0.690, P = 0.002) and the sub-scores of general psychopathology of PANSS (r = 0.583, P = 0.014). Additionally, a significant positive relationship exists between IL-1[beta] and the total duration (r = 0.638, P = 0.006). We found that the combination of miR-3653-3p, caspase 1, and IL-1[beta] have better diagnostic values. The results indicate that miR-3653-3p, caspase 1, and IL-1[beta] can potentially be biomarkers of SCZ, identifying negative symptoms or a chronic course. A further understanding of the involvement of IL-1[beta] in SCZ may be a crucial molecular effector for the chronic course to intervene. Keywords: Schizophrenia, IL-1[beta], NLRP3, miR-3653-3p, Caspase 1, qPCR