The miRNAs in plasma exosomes may serve as markers for segmental vitiligo

More and more studies have showed that plasma exosomal miRNAs are biomarkers for disease. The aim of the study were to investigate the miRNA profiling in plasma exosomes of patients with segmental vitiligo (SV) and to find biomarkers in plasma exosomes for patients with SV. Plasma exosomes and exosomal RNA of 7 SV patients and 8 health persons were purified by exoRNeasy Serum/Plasma Maxi Kit. The miRNA profiles of the 15 samples were sequenced using HiSeq 2500 (Illumina) and analyzed by Reads Per Million (RPM) values and edgeR algorithm. Some differently expressed miRNAs in plasma exosomes and skin tissues of the two sets were validated by qRT–PCR.A total of 85 miRNAs in plasma exosomes showed differential expression between SV patients and health persons, with a |log2(Fold Change)|=1 and P-value < 0.05. Several miRNAs were confirmed by qRT–PCR and showed similar expression patterns between plasma exosomes and skin tissues. Our study depict the miRNAs expression profiles in plasma exosomes of SV patients and suggest that several miRNAs in plasma exosomes may serve as biomarkers for SV. Overall design: To investigate the miRNA profiling in plasma exosomes of patients with segmental vitiligo (SV) and health persons and to find biomarkers in plasma exosomes for SV.