Abstract
Purpose
MicroRNA 34a (miR-34a) is involved in regulating tissue senescence. However, the role of miR-34a in age-related cataracts is unclear. In this study, we evaluated the correlations among the severity of lens opacity, patient age, and miR-34a expression level in the lens epithelium of age-related cataracts for clarifying the role of miR-34a in the lens senescence.
Methods
This study was carried as a case control study in the Department of Ophthalmology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan. We recorded age of each patient at the time of their cataract surgery and information regarding lens opacity according to a modified version of the Lens Opacities Classification System III. Correlations among age, lens opacity, and miR-34a expression levels were evaluated.
Results
This study evaluated 110 patients with a mean age of 73.19 years (SD±10.2). Older patients had higher nuclear cataract (NC), cortical (C), and posterior subcapsular cataract (P) scores (one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), P<0.05). miR-34a expression levels were significantly different between each age group (ANOVA post hoc Bonferroni’s test, P<0.001), and there were moderate correlations between high NC, C, and P cataract scores and high miR-34a levels (Pearson correlation coefficient; R=0.606, 0.575, and 0.515, respectively).
Conclusions
The current study demonstrated positive correlations between high miR-34a levels and high lens opacity severity in NC, C, or P cataracts. These results suggest that miR-34a expression has a role in lens senescence.
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Acknowledgements
This work was assisted in part by the Division of Experimental Surgery of the Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital. This study was supported by the National Science Council (98-2314-B-341-001-MY3, 99-2314-B-075-005-MY3 and NSC 101-2314-B-341 -003 -MY3), Taipei Veterans General Hospital (C1-099/ER3-001), Taipei City Hospital (96/97/98/099XDAA00102/10001-62-042), Shin-Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital (SKH-8302-97-DR-25 and SKH-8302-98-DR-26), Zuoying Armed Forces General Hospital (9502/9696/9719), Cheng-Hsin General Hospital (CHGH-100-01, 100-19, 100-20, 100-22, and 100-40) and Yen-Tjing Ling Medical Foundation (96/97/98), Taiwan.
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Chien, KH., Chen, SJ., Liu, JH. et al. Correlation between microRNA-34a levels and lens opacity severity in age-related cataracts. Eye 27, 883–888 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2013.90
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2013.90
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