Diagnostic efficiency of miR-21 and miR-34a serum levels in malign and benign prostate diseases

Abstract

Objective: In this study aimed to determine the diagnostic efficiency of miR-21 and miR-34a serum levels in the discrimination of benign prostatic hyperplasia, chronic prostatitis, and prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: Blood samples were taken from 70 patients (25 benign prostatic hyperplasias, 10 chronic prostatitides, and 35 prostate cancer) who underwent prostate needle biopsy. After obtaining serum under suitable conditions, RNA isolation, cDNA synthesis, and qRT-PCR analysis were performed using Qiagen brand kits on Rotor-Gene® Q (Qiagen, Germany) device. -∆Ct values ​​were calculated using RNU6 as a reference gene for normalization. -∆Ct values ​​were used in all statistical calculations. Results: It was observed that miR-21 serum levels were upregulated in chronic prostatitis and cancer groups compared to benign prostatic hyperplasia and the difference between the groups was statistically significant (p = 0.021 and p = 0.001, respectively). The specificity and sensitivity of miR-21 and miR-21/miR-34a combination was calculated as 56% and 86%; 84% and 71% in discriminating benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer groups, respectively. Conclusion: In this study, it has been shown that miR-21 and miR-21/miR-34a combination has diagnostic performance that can be a biomarker candidate in diagnosing prostate cancer. In addition, the presence of a gradual increase in chronic prostatitis and prostate cancer at miR-21 levels compared to benign prostatic hyperplasia suggests that inflammation and cancer transformation processes taking place at the molecular level are also reflected in the circulating microRNA profile. Keywords: Prostate cancer, Prostatitis, Benign prostatic hyperplasia, MicroRNA, Diagnostic efficiency