Expression of circulating Mir-139-5p is associated with Postmenopausal Osteoporosis in Indian women

Background: Osteoporosis in post-menopausal women is known to progress periodically and is highly associated with inflammation. MicroRNAs regulate inflammatory process, which may therefore control bone metabolism. Deregulation of miRNAs associated with inflammation may lead to development and progression of osteoporosis. We selected four miRNAs known to be involved in inflammation to test their association with post-menopausal osteoporosis. Methods: We quantified four circulating miRNAs, hsa-miR-139-5p, hsa-miR-342-3p, hsa-miR-146a and hsa-miR-24-3p in plasma samples of 25 post-menopausal osteoporosis and 25 post-menopausal healthy subjects. Related biochemical tests were done using Cobas e411 and ELISA. Results: Upon quantification of circulating miRNAs, we observed that hsa-miR-139-5p was expressed higher in post-menopausal osteoporotic samples (p=0.01). The expression of hsa-miR-24-3p was seen lower in osteoporotic samples though not highly significant (p=0.2). Conclusion: Differential expression of hsa-miR-139-5p and hsa-miR-24-3p was seen in osteoporosis subjects. These miRNA could be significantly involved in development and progression of osteoporosis. Further studies are required to highlight miRNAs’ involvement in regulating bone metabolism, which could be manipulated to use them as marker or therapeutic strategies to alleviate osteoporosis.