Abstract
BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate miRNAs and upstream regulatory transcription factors involved in schizophrenia (SZ) pathogenesis. METHODS: Differential expression of miRNAs and genes in SZ patients was investigated utilizing the gene expression omnibus dataset, gene ontology annotations, and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction experiments were conducted to validate the predictive screening of regulatory genes in peripheral blood samples from 20 SZ patients and 20 healthy controls. The diagnostic potential of these factors within these samples was assessed via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses. RESULTS: Fifty-eight miRNAs were identified as differentially expressed in the peripheral blood of SZ patients. miR-26b-5p exhibited significantly reduced expression in SZ patients compared to healthy individuals. Additionally, 1422 mRNAs were differentially expressed, including 5 transcription factors potentially regulating miR-26b-5p expression. Among these, EGR1 and STAT1 displayed significantly lower expression levels in SZ patients. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed areas under the curve of 0.76 for miR-26b-5p, 0.74 for EGR1, 0.82 for STAT1, and 0.85 for the combined STAT1-miR-26b-5p diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The reduced expression of miR-26b-5p, EGR1, and STAT1 in the peripheral blood of SZ patients, compared to healthy controls, suggests a strong association with SZ. These molecules represent potential diagnostic biomarkers, with the combined marker STAT1-miR-26b-5p potentially offering enhanced diagnostic accuracy.