Evaluation of miR-106a and ADARB1 in autistic children

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairments in communication and stereotypic patterns of behavior. Epigenetics is a rapidly evolving field of genetic study implicated in pathogenesis of ASD. Changes in biomarkers theme are thought to be early events in ASD development. We aimed to investigate the expression of serum RNA-based biomarkers exploring their potential utility as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers for ASD. Based on bioinformatics analysis, the current work has been designed to study the expression of miR-106a and ADARB1 as a novel circulating biomarkers that might improve the specificity of diagnosing ASD. This study was conducted on 32 children, 16 children with ASD as patient group (A) and 16 age, sex matched healthy children as control group (B). Quantitative PCR was carried out to evaluate the expression pattern of selected biomarkers in serum of autistic cases. The expression level of circulating miR-106a and ADARB1 total mRNA were significantly up-regulated in ASD children than in control group (p = 0.000). Notably there was a highly positive significant correlation between both studied biomarkers and with autism severity assessed by CARS. This study may open a new gate for the use of different potential circulating biomarkers, side by side with routine parental questionnaires to improve detection of ASD. •We aimed to investigate circulating RNA-based biomarkers exploring their potential diagnostic or prognostic utility in ASD.•Quantitative PCR was carried out to evaluate the expression pattern of selected biomarkers in serum of autistic cases•Expression of circulating miR-106a and ADARB1 were significantly up-regulated in ASD children•There was a highly positive significant correlation between both studied biomarkers and with autism severity