Nanocurcumin Decreases Pro-Inflammatory Mirnas Expression Profile in Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system. The dysregulated expression ofmiRNAs has been established to be accompanying with diverse pathologies of autoimmune diseases such as MS. The aim of the current study was to assess the effects of nanocurcumin on the expression levels of pro-inflammatory miRNAs in PBMCs derived from MS patients. Materials and Methods: In this study we investigated the miRNA expression profiles in 35 healthy controls, and from 25 patients at baseline and after 6 months of nanocurcumin treatment and also from 25 patients whose received placebo by real-time PCR. Results: Our data revealed that the expression of miR-16, miR-17-5p, miR-17-92, miR-29b, miR-128, miR-145, miR-155, miR-326, miR-550, and miR-340was significantly increased in CD4+ T cells of untreated RRMS patients compared with healthy controls. The expression of this pro-inflammatory miRNAs including miR-16, miR-17-92, miR-29b, miR-128, miR-132, miR-145, miR-155, miR-326, miR-550, and miR-340was significantly decreased in nanocurcumin-treated RRMS patients (p= 0.004; p= 0.03; p= 0.003; p=0.009; p= 0.001; p= 0.0009; p= 0.0006; p= 0.0007; p= 0.0003; p=0.001) compared with placebo group. Conclusion: This is a new finding that might represent the possibleinvolvement of these miRNAs to MS pathogenesis. In this clinical trial, it was found that the six-month oral administration of nanocurcumin could decrease mRNA expression levels of pro-inflammatory miRNAs in MS patients. Our results established that nanocurcumin isan effective agent for the treatment of MS patients with immune cell abnormalities.