Differential expression of microRNAs in human postmortem brain tissues of MDMA addiction. Differential expression of microRNAs in human postmortem brain tissues of MDMA addiction

In this study, we performed miRNA profiling of nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) in MDMA users and control postmortem human brains, which were obtained from Council of Forensic Medicine (Istanbul). According to the microarray analysis of significantly differentially expressed miR-1202 and miR-7975 were selected for further validation using quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR). qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the expression level of miR-7975 was significantly lower in 30 VTA region of MDMA samples compared to 30 control samples. Another significantly deregulated miR-1202 was down-regulated in 30 NAc region of MDMA samples in comparison to 30 control samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating that changes in miRNA expression levels are associated with postmortem MDMA users’ brains. Alteration of these miRNAs can serve as novel biomarkers for prediction of MDMA addiction. Our findings suggest that certain differentially expressed miRNAs in MDMA seeking behavior can be used as diagnostics and therapeutic markers. Overall design: In this study, we performed miRNA profiling of nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) in MDMA users and control postmortem human brains, which were obtained from Council of Forensic Medicine (Istanbul). Multiple group comparison

本研究针对从伊斯坦布尔法医学委员会（Council of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul）获取的尸检人脑样本，对亚甲二氧基甲基苯丙胺（MDMA）使用者与对照组的伏隔核（nucleus accumbens, NAc）及腹侧被盖区（ventral tegmental area, VTA）开展微RNA（microRNA, miRNA）表达谱分析。经微阵列芯片分析，筛选出显著差异表达的miR-1202与miR-7975，并采用定量反转录PCR（quantitative reverse-transcription PCR, qRT-PCR）进行后续验证。qRT-PCR结果显示，相较于30例对照样本，30例MDMA使用者的腹侧被盖区样本中miR-7975的表达水平显著降低。另一株显著异常表达的miR-1202，在30例MDMA使用者的伏隔核样本中同样较对照组显著下调。据我们所知，本研究首次证实miRNA表达水平变化与尸检来源的MDMA使用者脑组织存在关联。上述miRNA的表达异常可作为预测MDMA成瘾的新型生物标志物。本研究结果提示，与MDMA渴求行为相关的部分差异表达miRNA可作为诊断与治疗靶点标志物。总体实验设计：本研究针对从伊斯坦布尔法医学委员会获取的尸检人脑样本，对MDMA使用者与对照组的伏隔核及腹侧被盖区开展miRNA表达谱分析，并开展多组间比较。