Upregulation of circulating miR130a is correlated with development of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma

Li Wang,1 Feng Ji,1 Gang Liu,2 Wei Wang,3,4 Zhitong Li,1 Yongqiang Yue,1 Zhonggao Wang1,5,6 1Department of Interventional Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China; 2Department of Center for Clinical Single Cell Biomedicine, People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou 450003, China; 3Department of Clinical Research Center, People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou 450003, China; 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Provincial People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou 450003, China; 5Department of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, Rocket Force General Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Beijing 100088, China; 6Department of Vascular Surgery, Xuan Wu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China Background: Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is one of the major known risk factors for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Circulating miRNAs are emerging as predictive biomarkers for early detection of malignancy. However, the potential for circulating miRNAs to be used as biomarkers for BE neoplastic progression to EAC has not been well characterized. Method: We performed a systematic screening approach to identify spectrum miRNAs in the serum of both BE and EAC patients. Results: miRNA-array web-based software identified 116 sequences differentially expressed between BE patients and healthy controls. Subsequent study revealed that miR130a was significantly upregulated in serum samples of BE and EAC patients compared to healthy controls. We found an increase in serum miR130a in low-grade and high-grade dysplasia BE patients compared to individuals with metaplasia. We also observed that miR130a expression levels increased gradually from early-stage (I, II) to advanced-stage (III, IV) EAC patients. Conclusion: Our preliminary results provide evidence that circulating miR130a is correlated with the development of BE and EAC. Keywords: Barrett’s esophagus, esophageal adenocarcinoma, microRNA, miR130a, biomarke