Absolute quantification of microRNA miR-875-5p in temporal artery biopsies and its biomarker potential for giant cell arteritis

Bolha, Luka (author), Smajlović, Elvisa (author), Hočevar, Alojzija (author)

Objectives: To perform absolute quantification of miR-875-5p expression in temporal artery biopsies (TABs) of patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA), associate miR-875-5p copy number with histological and clinical characteristics of patients with GCA, and evaluate the diagnostic value of absolute copy number of miR-875-5p in GCA. Methods: The study included formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded TABs of 45 treatment-naïve clinically proven patients with GCA, and 19 non-GCA controls. Of the included patients with GCA, 29 had histologically positive and 16 histologically negative TABs. Expression of miR-875-5p was assessed through utilization of quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and absolute quantification by digital PCR (dPCR). Results: We determined significantly higher absolute copy number of miR-875-5p in histologically positive TABs of patients with GCA, compared to histologically negative TABs of GCA and non-GCA patients, which significantly correlated with the majority of TAB histopathological parameters and several clinical characteristics of patients with GCA. Notably, we showed a good diagnostic performance of absolute copy number of miR-875-5p in discriminating patients and controls, depending on the extent of vessel wall inflammation and remodeling in affected temporal arteries. Conclusion: Our study revealed that absolute quantification of miR-875-5p expression holds the potential to serve as a supporting biomarker in assessing vessel wall inflammation and remodeling in patients with GCA. Moreover, our results indicate the applicability of absolute quantification by dPCR in detecting low-abundance miRNAs in GCA-affected arterial tissue, whose limiting amounts hinder the utilization of classical qPCR.

• Language: English
• Keywords: biomarker, digital PCR, giant cell arteritis, microRNA, temporal artery biopsy
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.03 - Other scientific articles
• Organization: MF - Faculty of Medicine
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 8 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 17, art. 1676244
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-186340
• UDC: 616-097
• ISSN on article: 1664-3224
• DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1676244
• COBISS.SI-ID: 270816515
• Publication date in RUL: 31.08.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Frontiers in immunology
• Shortened title: Front. immunol.
• Publisher: Frontiers Research Foundation
• ISSN: 1664-3224
• COBISS.SI-ID: 30774233

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: biološki označevalec, digitalna PCR, arteritis velikanskih celic, mikroRNA, biopsija temporalne arterije

Projects

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