Serum exosomal miRNAs as diagnostic markers for rheumatoid arthritis

We conducted a series of experiments to examine the distribution of serum exosomal miRNAs in patients with RA and healthy controls. First, we performed small RNA sequencing to determine miRNA profiles of serum exosomes in a screening cohort of 18 RA patients who were randomized equally into three groups and matched to matched healthy controls.The miRNA profiles were then validated in a training cohort of 24 RA patients and 24 healthy controls using RT-qPCR. Finally, the selected exosomal miRNAs were validated in a validation cohort of 108 RA patients and 103 healthy controls. The diagnostic efficacy of the exosomal miRNAs was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The biological functions of the miRNAs were also determined through gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses.