Expression of Long Non-Coding RNAs (UCA1 and CCAT2) in the Blood of Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Case - Control Study

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune and multifactorial disease, and its pathogenesis is associated with many genetic and environmental factors. Long Non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) are a group of genes that have recently been identified as predisposing genetic factors for the development of many cancers. Objectives: This is a case–control study to evaluate the expression of two lncRNAs including Urothelial Carcinoma Associated 1 (UCA1) and Cancer-Associated Transcript 2 (CCAT2) in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) patients compared to healthy control group. Methods: In this case-control study, the expression of UCA1 and CCAT2 was evaluated in 50RRMSpatients (37 females, 13 males with a mean age of 36.22.9 years) compared to 50 healthy controls (38 females, 12 males with a mean age of 35.32.1), using the TaqMan real-time PCR technique. This study was conducted during 2017 and 2018 at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Results: There was no significant difference between the overall expression of UCA1 (P = 0.282) and CCAT2 (P = 0.983) among the case and control groups. However, there was a significant difference in the expression of UCA1 in female patients older than 40 years in comparison with healthy age-matched females (P = 0.013). In addition, there was a significant correlation between the expression of UCA1 and CCAT2 (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: These results suggest the synergistic effects of UCA1 and CCAT2 on pathogenic aspects of MS, by affecting cellular signaling pathways such as WNT and NF-kB.