Fibrosis-related microRNAs in Crohn’s disease with fibrostenosis and inflammatory stenosis

Jerala, Miha (author), Remic, Tinkara (author), Hauptman, Nina (author), Zidar, Nina (author)

Crohn’s disease (CD) is frequently complicated by strictures that can be either inflammatory or fibrostenotic. This distinction is important for deciding the best treatment course, but it can be difficult to determine clinically, sometimes even by advanced imaging techniques. We performed miRNA PCR panel screening on pooled samples of ileum with CD fibrostenosis or inflammatory stenosis. Eight miRNAs with profibrotic (miR-93-5p, miR-376c-3p and miR-424-5p), or fibroprotective (miR-133a-3p, miR-133b, miR-193a-5p, miR-335-5p and miR-378a-3p) functions described in the literature were selected for validation on 20 samples each of CD with fibrostenosis or inflammatory stenosis, with a separate sampling of the submucosa and subserosa. The results showed significant differences between the groups in subserosal samples, with upregulation of profibrotic miRNAs and downregulation of fibroprotective miRNAs in fibrostenosis compared to inflammatory stenosis. Only miR-424-5p showed a significant difference in the submucosa. There were significant differences in miRNA expression between subserosa and submucosa. Our results provide further evidence that the major differences between fibrostenosis and inflammatory stenosis are located in the subserosa, which is inaccessible to endoscopic sampling, highlighting the need for cross-sectional imaging or serological markers. We identify several miRNAs previously not connected to fibrosis in CD, which could potentially serve as biomarkers of fibrostenosis.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Crohn’s disease, fibrostenosis, inflammatory stenosis, fibrosis, miRNA
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: MF - Faculty of Medicine
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: 11 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 25, iss. 16, art. 8826
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-166788
• UDC: 616
• ISSN on article: 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms25168826
• COBISS.SI-ID: 205623299
• Publication date in RUL: 24.01.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of molecular sciences
• Shortened title: Int. j. mol. sci.
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1422-0067
• COBISS.SI-ID: 2779162

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: Crohnova bolezen, fibrostenoza, vnetna stenoza, fibroza, miRNA

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P3-0054
• Name: Patologija in molekularna genetika