The role of serum microRNAs and inflammatory mediators in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) and their value as biomarkers for early detection of intervertebral disk degeneration (IDD)

The current literatures available only focusedon the finding specific miRNAs and the etermination of the role of the specific miRNAs in the disk degeneration. The ultimate goalin each study was to find novel diagnostic or therapeutic agent for the treatment of IDD.The potential of miRNAs as bio markers was not discussed in majorityof the papers. The investigation into the circulating miRNAs are not widely conducted and thereis a lack of reports regarding this topic. Thereis also no study that correlates miRNAs from disk with serum miRNAs. The, establishment of a miRNA expression profileand inflammatory markers in serum is important for investigating the underlyingfunctional mechanisms for IDD, and a better knowledgeof their expression patternscould reveal molecular signatures that can be developedas therapeutic and diagnostictargets as well. There is also the problem that the miRNAs are multifunctional. They not only regulate IDD but also inflammatoryresponses, cancer and so on. Hence, it isimperative that we find multiple specific miRNAs and the relationship betweeninflammatory mediatorsand grade of degradation in order to develop biomarker for the early detection ofIDD.

In this proposedstudy, we wish to identifyaltered signatureof miRNAs and inflammatory markersduring the progression of IDD at differentclinical stagesas evidence by MRI by using RNA sequencing technique, qRTPCR and ELISA. We willalso performed Mass spectrometry based serum proteomics profileof these subjects. Lastly we will correlate between diseaseseverity, miRNA expression and altered proteins between healthy control and IDD subjects. This will lead to identification of IDD stagespecific molecular signature which may help in early diagnosisor prediction of the disease and may helpful in selection of treatment strategies. The early detection also helps in successivetreatments as the longer the disease is untreated, the worse isthe outcome.