Differentially expressed circular RNAs in systemic lupus erythematosus and their clinical significance.

It has been reported that circRNAs are diff ;erentially expressed in many diseases and can be used as new biomarker to facilitate disease diagnosis. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) microarray were used to identify dysregulated circRNAs in plasma of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. Then, we confirmed the microarray data by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in both plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of SLE. One hundred and twelve circRNAs were identified to dysregulated expressed in plasma of SLE as compared to healthy controls. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the levels of hsa_circRNA_407176 and hsa_circRNA_001308 were decreased in both plasma and PBMCs of SLE when compared with healthy controls. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve area of hsa_circRNA_407176 and hsa_circRNA_001308 in plasma were 0.599 and 0.662, respectively. The area under the ROC curves of hsa_circRNA_407176, hsa_circRNA_406567 and hsa_circRNA_001308 in PBMCs were 0.806, 0.744, and 0.722, respectively. Our study illustrated that hsa_circRNA_407176 and hsa_circRNA_001308 in plasma and PBMCs could be potential biomarkers for SLE.