Circular RNAs Expression in Elderly Patients with Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is one of the severe complications inducing low life quality and high mortality after surgery, especially in elderly patients.Here we probed differentially expressed circRNAs using microarray assay in POCD patients, aiming to find potential key circRNAs related to the occurrence of POCD. Subsequently, ten dysregulated circRNAs were confirmed via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in 10 paired samples. Then, Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed to probe the vital functions of dysregulated genes. To investigate the differentially expressed circRNAs in the serum of POCD patients and its potential role in the development of POCD, we performed circRNAs microarray to screen the differentially expressed circRNAs in serum samples from 3 patients of each of the POCD and non-POCD group. Subsequently, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis (qRT-PCR) was utilized to verify the microarray data with the serum samples from 10 patients of each group. Cytoscape software was used to construct the circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network for circRNAs with different expression levels as well as the target genes. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed the biological functions of differentially expressed circRNAs target genes.

术后认知功能障碍（Postoperative cognitive dysfunction, POCD）是术后严重并发症之一，可导致患者生活质量下降及死亡率升高，尤以老年患者为甚。本研究通过芯片检测技术分析POCD患者体内的差异表达环状RNA（circRNAs），以期筛选与POCD发生相关的潜在关键环状RNA。随后，我们在10对配对临床样本中，采用实时定量聚合酶链反应（quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, qRT-PCR）验证了10条异常表达的环状RNA，并开展基因本体（Gene Ontology, GO）及京都基因与基因组百科全书（Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, KEGG）通路富集分析，以探究异常调控基因的关键生物学功能。为进一步探究POCD患者血清中差异表达的环状RNA及其在POCD发生发展中的潜在作用，我们分别选取POCD组与非POCD组各3例患者的血清样本，通过环状RNA芯片筛选差异表达的环状RNA；随后，我们又选取两组各10例患者的血清样本，采用qRT-PCR验证芯片检测结果。本研究使用Cytoscape软件构建差异表达环状RNA及其靶基因的circRNA-miRNA-mRNA调控网络；GO及KEGG富集分析结果则揭示了差异表达环状RNA靶基因的生物学功能。