Evaluation of miR-21 Expression Level in Helicobacter pylori-Infected Gastric Mucosa

Background: Gastric cancer is one of the main causes of death worldwide. In this regard, Helicobacter pylori infection is considered as the main risk factor for gastric cancer. MicroRNA (mirNA) can interface with mRNA molecules as well as blocking their translation into proteins or inducing degradation. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the expression of mir-21 in biopsy samples of gastritis and healthy adjacent tissues. Methods: Between Feb-Dec 2017, 70 patients with dyspeptic symptoms from Taleghani Hospital were enrolled in this study. Accordingly, the expression level of mir-21 was evaluated using semi-quantitative RT-PCR in mucosal biopsy samples from those well-characterized patients. Moreover, the U6 gene was used as an internal control. Results: Our data indicated that mir-21 expression was significantly up-regulated in the infected samples with H. pylori compared to healthy samples. Conclusions: Our results confirm that H. pylori infection can alter the expression of mir-21 in gastric epithelial cells and gastric mucosal tissues. However, the exact role of the miRNA changes in H. pylori infection will require further experiments.