Peripheral blood miR-16-5p as a potential biomarker for distinguishing unmedicated bipolar disorder type II from major depressive disorder
Abstract
Objective major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder type II (BD-II) are difficult to distinguish clinically due to similar depressive symptoms and unrecognizable hypomania symptoms in the early stages. The study aims to identify these two disorders in the early stages through differential expression of microRNAs.Methods 93 subjects including 66 unmedicated patients (33 MDD, 33 BD-II), and 27 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. At the time of enrollment, all subjects' demographic data, HAMD, HCL-32, and YMRS scales were assessed. 5 ml of peripheral blood for all subjects was collected for microRNA second-generation sequencing. MicroRNA differential expression, target gene GO and KEGG analyses were performed.Results No statistical differences in demographic data were found except for age (BD-II < MDD, P = 0.002). In terms of clinical data, there are differences in the course of the disease (BD-II > MDD, P = 0.037) and the HCL-32 (BD-II > MDD, P < 0.01). A variance analysis of microRNA expressions across all three groups identified eight highly expressed differential miRNAs (P < 0.001), Pairwise comparisons revealed that the expression level of miR-16-5p was lower in both MDD group (P < 0.05) and BD-II group (P < 0.001) than in HC group, and it was even lower in BD-II group compared to MDD group (P < 0.01). The area under the curve (AUC) for miR-16-5p in differentiating BD-II from MDD groups was 0.723 (P = 0.003).Conclusions Peripheral blood miR-16-5p may serve as a potential biomarker for distinguishing unmedicated BD-II from MDD patients.
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miR-16-5p is reduced in peripheral blood of individuals with MDD and BD.
“miR-16-5p is reduced in peripheral blood of individuals with MDD and BD”
From The clinical use of epigenetics in psychiatry: a narrative review of epigenetic mechanisms, key candidate genes, and precision psychiatry (2025) · cites this paper as [36]
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- Authors
- Ni, L., Zhu, Y., Lv, L., Zhang, R., Xie, S., & Zhang, X.
- Affiliations
- Nanjing Brain Hospital (CN)
- Xuzhou Medical College (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Xie, Shiping
- Zhang, Xiangrong
- Venue
- Journal of Affective Disorders
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2025-08
- Volume
- 382
- Pages
- 453-461
- ISSN
- 0165-0327 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4409663785
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2
- FWCI
- 2.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Affective Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Social Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BE2023668)
- Nanjing Municipal Health Bureau (YKK23134, ZKX21033)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (82371510)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Bipolar Disorder and Treatment
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › MicroRNA in disease regulation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Keywords
- miR-16-5p, microRNA biomarkers, bipolar II disorder, major depressive disorder, differential diagnosis, unmedicated patients, peripheral blood, hypomania, clinical course, miRNA differential expression
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Bipolar Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Major, Diagnosis, Differential, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Biomarkers, MicroRNAs
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