Peyronie's disease (PD) is characterized by the formation of fibrous plaque in tunica albuginea, causing several problems in patients. The etiology of this disease is not fully understood, and there are few effective treatments. To better understand the molecular pathways of PD, we studied miR-29b, a microRNA that could be involved with this illness. MicroRNAs are endogenous molecules that act by inhibiting messenger RNA. MiR-29b regulates 11 of 20 collagen genes and the TGF-β1 gene, which are related to PD progression.
We compared miR-29b expression in 11 patients with PD and 14 patients without PD (control group). For the patients with PD, we utilized samples from the fibrous plaque (n = 9), from the tunica albuginea (n = 11), and from the corpus cavernosum (n = 8). For the control group, we utilized samples from the tunica albuginea (n = 14) and from the corpus cavernosum (n = 10). MiR-29b expression was determined by q-PCR.
We found a downregulation of miR-29b in the fibrous plaque, tunica albuginea and corpus cavernosum of patients with PD in comparison with the control group (p = 0.0484, p = 0.0025, and p = 0.0016, respectively).
Although our study has a small sample, we showed for the first time an evidence that the downregulation of miR-29b is associated with PD.
Urologia. 2021 Aug 04 [Epub ahead of print]
Vinicius Genuino Dos Santos, Gabriel Arantes Dos Santos, Cristóvão Barbosa Neto, Nayara Izabel Viana, Ruan Pimenta, Vanessa Ribeiro Guimarães, Patrícia Candido, Poliana Romão, Juliana A de Camargo, Katia Ramos Moreira Leite, Miguel Srougi, José Cury, William C Nahas, Sabrina Thalita Reis
São Camilo University Center, Sao Paulo, Brazil., Laboratory of Medical Investigation (LIM55), Urology Department, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil., Sexual Medicine of the Hospital das Clinicals of University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil., São Paulo Cancer Institute (ICESP), São Paulo, Brazil.