Micro-RNA-96 and interleukin-10 are independent biomarkers for multiple sclerosis activity

Background Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) are evolving as biological markers for multiple sclerosis (MS) both in activity and remission. miR-96 is associated with remission, however, the exact mechanism through which it contributes to the anti-inflammatory pathway is not clear. Objective To study the expression of miR-96 and IL-10 (anti-inflammatory mediator) in relapsing remitting (RR) MS. Subjects and methods A case control study including 32 RRMS patients from Kasr Al-Ainy MS clinic, Cairo University, Egypt, and 26 healthy controls (HC). Assessment of serum IL-10 by ELISA, and miR-96 via real time PCR was done during relapse and remission in patients, and in HC. Results IL-10 was higher in RRMS patients during remission and in HC compared with relapse (P ˂ 0.001). miR-96 expression was higher in RRMS patients during remission compared with relapse and HC, and was higher in HC than in relapse (P ˂ 0.001). IL-10 level in remission correlated positively with disease duration (r = 0.41; P = 0.02). Otherwise, no correlation was found between IL-10 and relapse number or EDSS (P>0.05). miR-96 in relapse negatively correlated with EDSS in relapse (r=−0.47; P=0.007), but no correlation was found with disease duration or relapse number, whereas, miR-96 in remission did not correlate with any clinical parameters (P>0.05). No correlation was found between IL-10 and miR-96 either in relapse or remission (P>0.05). Conclusion IL-10 and miR-96 are associated with MS quiescence, however, the lack of a significant correlation between them implicates that the influence of miR-96 may be exhibited through some pathway other than IL-10.