Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Brain Injury, JAMA / 21.11.2017
Micro RNAs in Saliva May Predict Severity of Concussion Injuries
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Steven D. Hicks, M.D., Ph.D
Penn State Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Previous research has shown that small epigenetic molecules called microRNAs are altered in the blood after a traumatic brain injury. Our own pilot research showed that microRNAs were also changed in the saliva after brain injury and that some of these changes mirrored changes in cerebrospinal fluid. In this study we investigated whether salivary microRNA patterns after a concussion could be used to predict the duration and character of symptoms one month after injury.
We found that levels of five microRNAs predicted presence of symptoms one month later with greater accuracy (~85%) than standard surveys of symptom burden (~65%). Interestingly, one of the predictive salivary microRNAs (miR-320c) targets pathways involved in synaptic plasticity and was significantly correlated with attention difficulties one month after concussive injury. (more…)