Determination of miRNA-21 as a Marker in Primary Brain Tumors
- VernacularTitle:Тархины анхдагч хавдрын үед miRNA-21 маркерийг тодорхойлсон дүн
- Author:
Enkhtuya S
1
;
2
;
Orkhontuul Sh
1
;
3
;
Ariunzaya B
1
;
Batbaatar G
1
;
Tsogtsaikhan S
1
;
Gansukh Ch
1
;
Enkhsaikhan L
1
;
4
Author Information
1. Department of Immunology, School of Biomedicine, MNUMS
2. Institute of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Economy and Development
3. The Department of Neurosurgery, The Third State Central Hospital of Mongolia
4. Institute of Biomedical Sciences, MNUMS
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
miRNA;
liquid biopsy;
Central nervous system tumors;
Tumor biomarker
- From:
Mongolian Journal of Health Sciences
2026;96(6):121-126
- CountryMongolia
- Language:Mongolian
-
Abstract:
Background:Globally, approximately 322,000 new cases of brain and central nervous system (CNS) tumors were reported in 2022, accounting for 1.6% of all newly diagnosed cancers. Primary brain tumors represent 85–90% of all CNS tumors, and survival varies substantially by tumor type and stage. Malignant brain tumors have a 5-year survival rate of approximately 35.7%, while meningioma, the most common benign brain tumor, has a 5-year survival rate of 88.2%. Furthermore, survival outcomes are substantially poorer in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). For example, the median survival of patients with glioblastoma (GBM) is 12–15 months in high-income countries but only 6–9 months in LMICs. In Mongolia, 93 new cases of brain and CNS tumors were reported in 2024. Although the incidence is lower than that of other common cancers, the mortality rate remains high (80.4%). Because brain tissue biopsy is invasive and repeated sampling is often impractical, in Mongolia, brain and CNS tumors continue to be associated with high mortality, underscoring the need for minimally invasive biomarkers for early diagnosis and disease monitoring MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs (18–22 nucleotides) that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and remain stable in body fluids, making them promising biomarkers. Among them, miR-21 is a well-characterized oncogenic miRNA that is overexpressed in glioma and glioblastoma. However, evidence regarding its clinical utility in LMICs, particularly in Mongolia, remains limited.
Aim:To evaluate plasma miRNA-21 expression in patients with primary brain tumors and evaluate its diagnostic performance.
Materials and Methods:This study enrolled 120 participants, including patients with primary brain tumors, patients with other neurological disorders (non-tumor), and healthy controls. Peripheral blood samples were collected, and plasma miRNA-21 expression was quantified using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Relative expression was calculated using the 2^-ΔΔCt method. Descriptive statistics and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were performed to evaluate differences among groups. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to assess diagnostic performance, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.
Result:Plasma miRNA-21 expression was significantly higher in patients with primary brain tumors than in healthy individuals, showing a 3.81-fold increase (p<0.001), and was 1.53-fold higher than in patients with neurological disorders (p<0.001). miRNA-21 expression was significantly elevated in patients with glioma, meningioma, and adenoma compared with both healthy individuals and patients with neurological disorders (p<0.001). Similarly, miRNA-21 expression was significantly higher in both glial and non-glial tumors than in the healthy and neurological disorder groups (p<0.001) and showed an increasing trend according to tumor stage/grade (p<0.001). ROC curve analysis demonstrated that miRNA-21 had a sensitivity of 92.3% and a specificity of 80.5% for distinguishing patients with primary brain tumors from the comparison groups.
Conclusion:Plasma miRNA-21 has the potential to distinguish patients with primary brain tumors from healthy individuals and patients with neurological disorders and may serve as a minimally invasive diagnostic biomarker for primary brain tumors.
- Full text:202609270031116085621_Тархины анхдагч хавдрын үед miRNA-21 маркерийг тодорхойлсон дүн.pdf
