• Xue-Qiang Wang, Wen-Zhan Tu, Jia-Bao Guo, Ge Song, Juan Zhang, Chang-Cheng Chen, and Pei-Jie Chen.
• Department of Sport Rehabilitation, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China; †Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Shanghai Shangti Orthopaedic Hospital, Shanghai, China; ‡Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
• Pain Med. 2019 Dec 1; 20 (12): 2459-2471.

AbstractObjectives The aim of our study was to ascertain the underlying role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in human intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Design Bioinformatic analysis from multiple databases. Methods Studies of the association of miRNAs and IDD were identified in multiple electronic databases. All potential studies were assessed by the same inclusion and exclusion criteria. We recorded whether miRNA expression was commonly increased or suppressed in the intervertebral disc tissues and cells of IDD subjects. We used String to identify biological process and cellular component pathways of differentially expressed genes. Results We included fifty-seven articles from 1,277 records in this study. This report identified 40 different dysregulated miRNAs in 53 studies, including studies examining cell apoptosis (26 studies, 49.06%), cell proliferation (15 studies, 28.3%), extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation (10 studies, 18.86%), and inflammation (five studies, 9.43%) in IDD patients. Three upregulated miRNAs (miR-19b, miR-32, miR-130b) and three downregulated miRNAs (miR-31, miR-124a, miR-127-5p) were considered common miRNAs in IDD tissues. The top three biological process pathways for upregulated miRNAs were positive regulation of biological process, nervous system development, and negative regulation of biological process, and the top three biological process pathways for downregulated miRNAs were negative regulation of gene expression, intracellular signal transduction, and negative regulation of biological process. Conclusions This study revealed that miRNAs could be novel targets for preventing IDD and treating patients with IDD by regulating their target genes. These results provide valuable information for medical professionals, IDD patients, and health care policy makers.© 2019 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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