This study aims to evaluate the expression of salivary and plasmatic miRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs). A total of 25 patients were divided into three groups, according to their diagnosis: OSCC patients (n= 14); OPMDs patients (n= 6); and healthy controls (n= 5). At the time at diagnosis/enrolment, patients underwent salivary and plasmatic collection. The expression of miRNA -21, -31, -138, -145, -184, and -424 were evaluated by real-time PCR. An F-test and ANOVA test were performed to evaluate the miRNA levels (significance atp< 0.05). By comparing miRNA expression levels from saliva, a statistically significant difference emerged in the expression of miR-138 and miR-424 between the three groups (p< 0.05). In particular, these two miRNAs showed decreased expression levels in saliva samples from OSCC and OPMD patients compared to those from healthy controls. On the other hand, miRNA expression levels in plasma were low in all the groups, and no statistically significant differences were found. Overall, our results showed that liquid biopsy from saliva may be a useful tool for the identification of diagnostic molecular biomarkers in OSCC and OPMDs.
本研究旨在评估唾液与血浆中微小核糖核酸（miRNA）在口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）及口腔潜在恶性病变（OPMD）患者中作为诊断生物标志物的表达特征。根据诊断结果，将25例患者分为三组：OSCC患者（14例）、OPMD患者（6例）及健康对照者（5例）。在确诊/入组时采集患者唾液与血浆样本，采用实时荧光定量PCR技术检测miR-21、-31、-138、-145、-184及-424的表达水平。通过F检验与方差分析评估各组miRNA表达差异（显著性阈值p<0.05）。唾液miRNA表达比较显示，三组间miR-138与miR-424表达存在统计学显著差异（p<0.05），其中OSCC与OPMD患者唾液样本中这两种miRNA表达水平较健康对照组显著降低。而各组血浆miRNA表达量普遍较低，且未发现统计学显著差异。总体而言，本研究结果表明唾液液体活检可能成为识别OSCC与OPMD诊断性分子生物标志物的有效工具。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家