Association of miRNA-16-5p as a Biomarker in Egyptian Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Abdelrhman, Heba; Gouda, Weaam; Eweida, Soad M.; Ahmed, Amr Elsayed; Afify, Mie; Abdelmaksoud, Mohamed D.E.; Azazy, Samir; Abdelgawad, Mohamed Essameldin

doi:10.21608/ejchem.2025.421580.12319

Association of miRNA-16-5p as a Biomarker in Egyptian Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, Faculty of Postgraduate Studies for Advanced Sciences, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt.

² Biochemistry Department, Biotechnology Research Institute, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt.

³ Surgical urology Department, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

⁴ Biochemistry Division, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt

10.21608/ejchem.2025.421580.12319

Abstract

Background: The global prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is growing and is characterized as a quiet disorder due to the absence of conspicuous clinical symptoms, especially in its initial stages. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) significantly contribute to the pathophysiology and clinical progression of CKD, thus presenting opportunities for noninvasive detection and potential prognostic assessment of the disorder. Objectives: This study aimed to elucidate the role of miRNAs in the progression and prognosis of CKD. Hence, we evaluated the plasma levels of miRNA-16-5p, miRNA-148a, and miRNA-320 in CKD patients with different stages and assessed their relationships with key clinical parameters. Subjects and methods: The study comprised 60 CKD cases who were classified according to estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) into stage 3 and stage 4 beside 30 normal control subjects. The plasma levels of the studied miRNAs were determined using quantitative real-time chain polymerase reaction (qRT-PCR) besides the conventional renal function tests. Results: The expression level of miRNA-16-5p was found to be significantly upregulated in CKD cases, and it also increased in the CKD stages (3 & 4) compared to normal controls. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve examination indicated that miR-16-5p had the highest predictive accuracy in the diagnosis of CKD. Moreover, our results found that elevated plasma levels of miR-16-5p were inversely linked with eGFR values in CKD patients. Conclusions: According to our study's findings, miR-16-5p may play a role in the development of chronic renal disease. This implies that miR-16-5p can possibly be a useful biomarker for CKD detection.

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