Identification of Potential Diagnostic miRNAs Biomarkers for Alzheimer Disease Based on Weighted Gene Coexpression Network Analysis

Background Alzheimer disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease that accounts for nearly three fourths of dementia cases. Searching for potential biomarkers will help clinicians in the early diagnosis and treatment of AD. Methods Firstly, we downloaded detailed AD data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database for identification of differentially expressed microribonucleic acids (DEmiRNAs) and differentially expressed messenger ribonucleic acids (DEmRNAs). Secondly, functional enrichment analysis was used to identify the biological functions of DEmRNAs. Thirdly, weighted gene coexpression network analysis was used to identify important modules and hub miRNAs. In addition, the miRNA-mRNA regulatory network was constructed. Fourthly, the GSE120584 dataset was used for electronic expression verification and diagnostic analysis. Finally, real-time polymerase chain reaction in vitro verification was performed. Results We obtained 1005 DEmiRNAs and 97 DEmRNAs, respectively. Functional enrichment found that DEmRNAs was enriched in the N-glycan biosynthesis pathway, which was associated with AD. In the weighted gene coexpression network analysis, we found that the brown module was the optimal module. Moreover, 11 hub miRNAs were identified. A total of 216 negatively regulated miRNA-mRNA regulation effects are involved. Hub miRNAs were found to have potential diagnostic value in the receiver operating characteristic analysis. Conclusion Eleven hub miRNAs were identified, and DEmRNAs was found to be significantly enriched in the N-glycan biosynthesis pathway, which contributes to the early diagnosis and treatment of AD.