Differential expression of microRNAs in Alzheimer's disease brain, blood and cerebrospinal fluid: a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Several microRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in Alzheimer9s disease (AD) pathogenesis but the evidence from individual case control studies remains inconclusive. METHODS: A systematic literature review was performed, followed by standardised multi-stage data extraction, quality control, and meta-analyses on eligible data for brain, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens. Results were compared with miRNAs reported in the abstracts of eligible studies or recent qualitative reviews to assess novelty. RESULTS: Data from 147 independent datasets across 107 publications were quantitatively assessed in 461 meta-analyses. Twenty-five, five, and 32 miRNAs showed study-wide significant differential expression (α