D3.373 - Hives and hidden codes: detection of miRNA in chronic spontaneous urticaria patients - pilot study

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by recurrent hives and angioedema, driven by immune dysregulation. Despite progress in understanding its causes, reliable biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring remain lacking.  miRNAs are emerging as key players in various diseases, with potential roles as biomarkers and therapeutic targets, offering new insights into the understanding of CSU.

The aim of this study was to detect miRNA patterns in CSU patients to enhance understanding of their role in the disease.

Three groups of patients were included in the study: urticaria only (n=10), urticaria with angioedema (n=10), angioedema only (n=10), and an external control group (n=10). miRNA was isolated from plasma, and sequencing was performed using the NEXTFlex Small RNA-seq v3 library preparation kit on a NovaSeq6000 platform. miRNA processing was conducted using the nf-core smrnaseq pipeline, and expression was analysed using 50-50 MANOVA and differential expression analysis in R. To identify associated pathways, miRNA target analysis and functional enrichment were performed using the KEGG, Reactome, and WikiPathways databases via the Mienturnet web tool.

In this study, miRNAs were analysed in 30 patients with a mean age of 45.3 years (SD ±14.3; range 20–80), 76.7% (n=23) of whom were women. A total of 61 significantly altered miRNAs (p <0.05) were observed across all groups, including the control group. While comparisons between patient groups did not reveal significantly differentially expressed miRNAs after multiple testing correction, several nominally significant miRNAs (p <0.05) were identified: miR-204-5p, miR-3158-3p, miR-4732-3p, miR-576-5p, and miR-877-5p, warranting further investigation. Notably, miR-204-5p appeared potentially underexpressed in the CSUA group and approached significance (adjusted p=0.05) when comparing patient groups. These findings suggest candidate miRNAs for further validation using alternative methods.

This study identified five miRNAs - miR-204-5p, miR-3158-3p, miR-4732-3p, miR-576-5p, and miR-877-5p - that may contribute to the pathogenesis of CSU and serve as potential biomarkers.