Investigation of the expression levels of MIR375 and MIR451A genes in subacute thyroiditis

Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is the most common cause of thyroid pain. SAT has an average frequency of 12.1 cases per 100,000 individuals per year, with a higher incidence in women than in men. Micro RNAs (miRNAs) are endogenous short single-stranded non-coding RNAs that are negative regulators of gene expression. They play an important role in the posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the expression levels of two circulating miRNAs, MIR451A and MIR375, can be used as a parameter in the diagnosis and follow-up of SAT disease. Fifty patients diagnosed with SAT and 41 healthy individuals were included in this study. Expression levels of miRNAs were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) method. Expression data of miRNAs were calculated by 2-ΔΔCt method. The statistical significance of miRNA expression was evaluated by t-test. While the expression levels of MIR375-3p did not differ between SAT patients and healthy controls (p>0.05), the expression levels of MIR451A differed between SAT patients and healthy controls (p=0.049). It was found that expression levels of both MIR375-3p and MIR451A did not show variability in different disease stages (hyperthyroid, euthyroid, hypothyroid) (p>0.05). No correlation was found in the correlation analysis between the clinical features of SAT patients and the expression levels of MIR375-3p and MIR451A. In conclusion, in this study, we found that the expression level of circulating MIR451A was lower in SAT disease, which shows us that MIR451A may be effective in the pathogenesis of SAT disease. Keywords: Subacute Thyroiditis, MIR451A, MIR375