Investigation of the relationship between pelaton gene and RNA damage in peripheral arterial disease

Atherosclerosis is an immuno-metabolic disease involving chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, epigenetic and metabolic dysfunction. Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) refers to diseases of arteries other than coronary arteries and aorta. The main causes of PAD include atherosclerosis, vascular stenosis, inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. Recently, role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in cardiovascular diseases has gained importance. Studies have shown that expression of PELATON, an lncRNA, is localized in necrotic, inflammatory and macrophage-rich regions of atherosclerotic plaques. PELATON degradation in macrophages in vitro causes reduced ability of the cell to perform phagocytosis. Phagocytosis of lipoproteins or erythrocytes is an integral part of atheroma plaque progression and is strongly associated with the development of plaque instability. An lncRNA that positively regulates phagocytosis, such as PELATON, may be a potential target in reducing this rate and plaque progression. The aim of our study was to determine the expression level of the PELATON gene in PAD and healthy controls and to determine the plasma levels of 8-Hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHG) and 8-hydroxyguanine, which are markers involved in oxidative damage of DNA/RNA. In our study, gene expression levels were determined by Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) and DNA/RNA oxidative damage levels were determined by ELISA method in 100 patients diagnosed with PAD and 100 healthy controls. In our study, no significant difference was observed in PELATON expression levels between the PAD group and healthy control group (p=0.119). When 8-OHG, 8-OHdG and 8-hydroxyguanine levels were compared between the two groups, no significant difference was detected (p=0.31). There was a positive correlation between PELATON gene expression and CRP (r=0.024, p=0.83), total cholesterol (r=0.014, p=0.91), LDL cholesterol (r=0.117, p=0.36), creatine kinase MB (r=0.273, p=0.391) levels in the PAD group, but our results did not reach statistical significance. This may be due to the limited number of patients. Our study is the first study of PELATON expression in PAD patients. In conclusion, although PELATON expression was found to be high in the PAD patient group, it did not reach statistical significance, suggesting that there is no strong relationship between the PELATON gene and PAH pathogenesis.