Application of the Trend of miRNA Expression Levels in APP/PS1 Mice Plasma for the Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease
摘要
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and seriously affects people’s quality of life. In recent years, many circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have been reported as potential diagnostic biomarkers for AD. However, there are no reliable miRNAs for early diagnosis of AD because miRNAs are dynamically changing during the disease process. The present study was to seek reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis of AD by detecting changes in miRNAs in plasma from young APPswe/PS1Δ9 double-transgenic mice (APP/PS1 mice) using a quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) method. Some behavioral experiments and pathological tests were used to characterize the progress of AD in APP/PS1 transgenic mice. The results showed that the expression levels of several plasma miRNAs targeting BACE1 and APP showed consistent trends in the early stages of APP/PS1 mice. The expression levels of miR-34a-5p, miR-29c-3p, miR-107-3p, and miR-101a-3p in the plasma of APP/PS1 female mice decreased with cognitive decline, demonstrating their potential as biomarkers for early diagnosis of female AD patients. The expression levels of these miRNAs fluctuated significantly in APP/PS1 male mice, and the reason for this difference may be related to the biological sex differences in AD. This fluctuation may serve as an indicative risk signal for the early stage of AD in male patients.