Evaluation of circulating miRNAs in wet age-related macular degeneration

PURPOSE In the present study, we aimed to investigate the changes in plasma miRNA in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration. METHODS The expression profiles of 384 miRNAs in plasma from 33 patients (22 male, 11 female) who were diagnosed with wet age-related macular degeneration with fundus examination, fundus fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography and 31 controls (17 male, 14 female) were evaluated using high-throughput quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS Our results demonstrated that the expression level of five miRNAs (miR-17-5p, miR-20a-5p, miR-24-3p, miR-106a-5p, and miR-223-3p) was significantly upregulated in patients with age-related macular degeneration when compared to the control group (p<0.05). The expression level of 11 miRNAs (miR-21-5p, miR-25-3p, miR-140-3p, miR-146b-5p, miR-192-5p, miR-335-5p, miR-342-3p, miR-374a-5p, miR-410, miR-574-3p, and miR-660-5p) was significantly downregulated in patients (p<0.05). In addition, ten miRNAs (miR-26b-5p, miR-27b-3p, miR-29a-3p, miR-139-3p, miR-212-3p, miR-324-3p, miR-324-5p, miR-532-3p, miR-744-5p, and miR-Let-7c) were expressed only in the patient group. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that plasma miRNA levels may change in wet age-related macular degeneration. These molecules may have an important therapeutic target in patients who are unresponsive to antivascular endothelial growth factor therapy. However, further studies must be conducted for possible effects of miRNAs in vascular disorders of eye such as age-related macular degeneration.