Objective To explore the relationships between serum levels of microRNA-221-3p (miR-221-3p), neuregulin 1 (NRG1) and cognitive dysfunction (CD) in patients with refractory epilepsy.
Methods A total of 64 patients with refractory epilepsy (refractory epilepsy group) and 58 patients with well-controlled anti-epileptic drugs (anti-epileptic drugs well-controlled group) were selected as research objects. During the same period, 70 healthy patients in the same hospital were selected as control group. Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MoCA) was used to evaluate the degree of cognitive impairment in patients with refractory epilepsy, and the patients with refractory epilepsy were divided into CD group (40 cases) and non-CD group (24 cases) according to the MoCA total score. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR method was used to detect the serum level of miR-221-3p, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the serum level of NRG1, Pearson method was used to analyze the correlations between miR-221-3p, NRG1 levels and the total score of MoCA, multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the independent risk factors affecting the development of CD in patients with refractory epilepsy.
Results Compared with the control group and the anti-epileptic drugs well-controlled group, the serum miR-221-3p and NRG1 levels in the refractory epilepsy group were higher (P < 0.05); compared with the non-CD group, the serum miR-221-3p and NRG1 levels in the CD group were higher, and the MoCA total score, spatial and executive ability score, language score, delayed memory score, computing power and orientation score were lower (P < 0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the serum levels of miR-221-3p and NRG1 were negatively correlated with the total score of MoCA(P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that NRG1 and miR-221-3p were risk factors for CD in patients with refractory epilepsy (P < 0.05).
Conclusion The patients with refractory epilepsy and CD have relatively higher levels of serum miR-221-3p and NRG1, and they are closely related to the progression of CD in patients with refractory epilepsy.
DownLoad: