Dissertation Discussion
College of Science for Women / University of Baghdad examined the dissertation entitled (Evaluation of Some Immuno-Cytokines and microRNA Expression Profiles in Women Naturally infected with Toxoplasmosis) by the student: Zainab Abdul Ameer Hasan, as part of the requirements for obtaining a PhD degree in Zoology, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hanaa Kamil Hamad.
The study aimed to evaluate the expression of microRNA types in whole blood samples of toxoplasmosis patients using the qRT-PCR technique, and to assess specific IgM and IgG antibody levels, alongside measuring certain immunological markers represented by IL-17, IL-37, and IL-10 in patient serum, with the goal of determining the potential use of these markers as biomarkers to assist in the diagnosis and prediction of toxoplasmosis, as well as evaluating their diagnostic accuracy using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.
The dissertation included a study of 200 women’s samples, comprising 100 patient samples and 100 healthy control samples. Specific IgM and IgG antibody levels, as well as IL-17, IL-37, and IL-10 cytokines, were evaluated using ELISA techniques. From these, 100 samples (including 50 infected women and 50 healthy controls) were taken to study miRNA expression levels using the qRT-PCR technique. The results showed a significant elevation in IL-17 and IL-37 levels and a decrease in IL-10 among patients compared with the control group, as well as a significant decrease in miR-631, miR-1302-3p, and miR-604 expression, whereas miR-608 and miR-938 showed no significant differences. The diagnostic value of the studied markers was also evaluated using ROC curve analysis, where certain molecules, including miR-604, demonstrated promising diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing between chronic toxoplasmosis patients and healthy controls.
- The study recommends carrying out longitudinal studies with larger sample sizes across multiple centers to further validate the diagnostic potential of microRNAs at various clinical stages of T. gondii infection, alongside conducting integrative immunogenetic studies to evaluate host gene polymorphisms (SNPs) and non-coding RNA expression profiles in relation to host susceptibility. It also recommends utilizing animal models to define tissue-specific immune responses and evaluate extended cytokine networks, as well as performing functional assays to determine the direct regulatory roles of specific miRs on cytokines (IL-10, IL-17, and IL-37) to assess their feasibility as therapeutic targets. Furthermore, employing advanced bioinformatics and multi-marker statistical algorithms is recommended to build predictive diagnostic models based on microRNA expression and cytokine profiles.
The researcher was awarded an Excellent grade.
