Accumulating evidence indicates that microRNA-146a (miR-146a), a well-known anti-inflammatory miRNA, acts as a negative feedback regulator of the innate immune response, but its role in modulation of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains unclear and the issue related to the stability of exogenous miR-146a in blood is up in the air.
Our results showed altered expression of miR-146a, -155, and -122 in the colonic mucosa of children with IBD and in TNF-α-treated colonic epithelial cells.
The elevated expression of miR-146a and -155 in the inflamed duodenal mucosa of CD patients suggests the role of these miRs in the pathomechanism of inflammatory bowel disease.
These findings suggested that mir-146ars2910164 and mir‑149 rs2292832 may be associated with the increased risk of IBD via alterations in the expression levels of miRNAs.
In the present preliminary study we evaluated the associations of two SNPs (rs2910164 and rs11614913 in miR-146a and miR-196a2, respectively) with the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a Greek population.