Association of hsa-mir-328-3p Expression in Whole Blood With Optical Density of Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells.

AIM To investigate the association of the pair box 6 gene (PAX6) and hsa-miR-328-3p with optical density of macular pigment. MATERIALS AND METHODS We evaluated 112 individuals (34 with moderate myopia, eight with high-degree myopia, and 70 healthy individuals). The optical density of macular pigment was measured using single-wavelength reflectometry. DNA and RNA were extracted from whole blood samples. Expression of hsa-miR-328-3p and genotyping of single-nucleotide polymorphism of PAX6 (rs662702) were performed using Applied Biosystems 7900HT real-time polymerase chain reaction system. Optical density of retinal pigment epithelial cells was evaluated using Fundus plus camera. RESULTS In the group with myopia, with increasing ∆Ct hsa-miR-328-3p, the median optical density of the retinal pigment epithelium decreased statistically significantly (p<0.032). No statistically significant association was found between SNP rs662702 genotype variant of the PAX6 gene and the optical density of the retinal pigment epithelium. CONCLUSION The increased expression of hsa-miR-328-3p in the blood indicates a decrease in the optical density of the retinal pigment epithelium in those with myopia.