Circulating microRNA Profile throughout the menstrual cycle

PLoS One. 2013 Nov 14;8(11):e81166. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0081166. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Normal physiological variables, such as age and gender, contribute to alterations in circulating microRNA (miRNA) expression levels. The changes in the female body during the menstrual cycle can also be reflected in plasma miRNA expression levels. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the plasma miRNA profile of healthy women during the menstrual cycle and to assess which circulating miRNAs are derived from blood cells. The plasma miRNA expression profiles in nine healthy women were determined by quantitative real time PCR using Exiqon Human Panel I assays from four time-points of the menstrual cycle. This platform was also used for studying miRNAs from pooled whole blood RNA samples at the same four time-points. Our results indicated that circulating miRNA expression levels in healthy women were not significantly altered by the processes occurring during the menstrual cycle. No significant differences in plasma miRNA expression levels were observed between the menstrual cycle time-points, but the number of detected miRNAs showed considerable variation among the studied individuals. miRNA analysis from whole blood samples revealed that majority of miRNAs in plasma are derived from blood cells. The most abundant miRNA in plasma and blood was hsa-miR-451a, but a number of miRNAs were only detected in one or the other sample type. In conclusion, our data suggest that the changes in the female body during the menstrual cycle do not affect the expression of circulating miRNAs at measurable levels.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Humans
  • Menstrual Cycle / blood*
  • MicroRNAs / blood*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • MicroRNAs

Grants and funding

This research was funded by grant SF0180044s09 from the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, by the European Regional Development Fund through the Estonian Centre of Excellence in Genomics, by Enterprise Estonia, grant no EU30020 and Eurostars EU41564 NOTED project. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.