Differential miRNA Expression in Osteoporotic Elderly Patients with Hip Fractures Compared to Young Patients.

Background: The expression pattern of micro-RNAs (miRNA) has been implicated in the pathomechanism of various bone disorders, and has a role in differentiation of osteoblasts and osteoclasts. The purpose of the study was to investigate the differential miRNA profiles of osteoporotic hip fractures compared to young patients with hip fractures.
Methods: Blood samples from ten osteoporosis patients and ten young, healthy patients, presenting with acute hip fractures were collected and subjected to an initial miRNA profiling to detect those miRNAs with significant variations between the two groups based on polymerase chain reactions performed in duplicate. A real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based analysis was then performed for validation of specific miRNAs that were significantly different between the two groups.
Results: A total of 182 miRNAs were analyzed. Thirty-nine of them showed significant differences between the two groups in the initial miRNA profiling. The validation results suggested that five miRNAs related to bone metabolism had significantly different expression among the osteoporotic hip fracture group compared to the young, healthy group: miR-23b-3p and miR-140-3p were up-regulated; miR-21-5p, miR-122-5p and miR-125b-5p were down-regulated.
Conclusions: Differential expression of selected miRNAs in patients with osteoporotic hip fracture suggests a possible role of miRNAs as potential biomarkers in prevention or timely prediction of osteoporotic fractures in the elderly. Further research is required to elucidate the mechanism of their involvement in osteoporosis.
Level of Evidence: Not applicable.
Competing Interests: Conflict of interestDr. Bhavuk Garg has received funding from AOTrauma Asia Pacific Research Grant 2017 (AOTAP 17-27). Dr Samarth Mittal, Dr Rajesh Malhotra, Dr. Arvind Kumar, Dr Nishank Mehta, Dr Garima Malik, Dr Manish Gupta and Dr Vivek Trikha declare that they have no conflict of interest.
(© Indian Orthopaedics Association 2021.)