Figure 1

Plasma miRNA profiling using miRNA array. (A) To identify the changes that occurred in the expression levels of miRNAs in serum from patients treated with anti-TNFα/DMARDs combination therapy, Human Serum & Plasma miRNA PCR array (Qiagen) was performed. In this profile, the expression levels of 75 miRNAs were found increased, while 9 miRNAs decreased after treatment. (B) All the miRNAs modified after anti-TNFα/DMARDs treatment together with the observed fold change were analyzed using the IPA software in order to find interrelationships and potential impact on specific pathways. Among all the targets, the most significant findings (P value <0.01) indicated that maturation of cells and transition to G1 phase were inhibited. DMARDs, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; IPA, Ingenuity Pathway Analysis; miRNAs, microRNAs; TNFα, tumor necrosis factor alpha.