Abstract:
Radon is one of the most powerful carcinogens,
particularly in terms of lung cancer onset and development.
miRNAs may be considered not only as markers of the ongoing
tumorigenesis but also as a hallmark of exposure to radiation,
including radon and its progeny. Therefore, the purpose of the
present study was to estimate the value of plasma miR-19b-3p
level as the prospective marker of the response to radon
exposure in lung cancer pathogenesis. A total of 136 subjects
were examined, including 49 radon-exposed patients with lung
cancer, 37 patients with lung cancer without radon exposure
and 50 age/sex matched healthy controls. Total RNA from
blood samples was extracted and used to detect miR-19b-3p
expression via reverse transcription quantitative-polymerase
chain reaction. The 2-ΔΔCq method was used to quantify the
amount of relative miRNA. The plasma level of p53 protein was
determined using a Human p53 ELISA kit. Plasma miR-19b-3p
level was significantly higher in the patients with lung cancer
groups, compared with the healthy control group (P<0.0001).
No other statistically significant differences were determined
in the expression level of plasma miR-19b-3p between patients
diagnosed with lung cancer exposed to radon and not exposed to
radon. The expression level of free circulating miR-19b-3p was
higher in the group of non-smoking patients with lung cancer,
compared with smokers with lung cancer. The miR-19b-3p
was 1.4-fold higher in non-smokers than in smokers (P<0.05).
No association between plasma levels of p53 protein and
miR-19b-3p freely circulating in patients with lung cancer was
observed. No other statistically significant differences were
determined in the plasma p53 protein level between patients
diagnosed with lung cancer exposed and not exposed to radon.
These results indicated that detection of miR-19b-3p levels in
plasma potentially could be exploited as a noninvasive method
for the lung cancer diagnostics. However, this miRNA is not
suitable as the precise marker for radon impact.
