Copyright: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee: Pirogov University.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY).

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Expression of microRNA miR146a in the blood plasma of rats with obesity and knee arthrosis after administration of dexamethasone

Ivanov AS1,2, Tananakina TP1, Kashchenko SA1, Pogorelova IA1
About authors

1 Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “LSMU named St. Luke”, Russia

2 Non-governmental private institusion Scientific Diagnostic Center "Policlinic on Smolenskaya"

Correspondence should be addressed: Aleksey S. Ivanov
A. Dikogo, 16A, kv. 73, 111396, Moskva, Rossiya: ur.liam@5891golotamvartahsas

About paper

Author contribution: Ivanov AS — study design development, experimental design; Tananakina TP — study design development, participation in the experimental design, and scientific supervision; Kashchenko SA — scientific editing, scientific supervision, and participation in the experimental design; Pogorelova IA — technical proofreading, participation in the experimental design.

Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the St. Luke's Lugansk State Medical University of the Russian Ministry of Health (protocol No 1 dated 23 September 2025). When working with laboratory animals, the conditions of care and experimentation were fully compliant with the standards of Order No. 199n of the Russian Ministry of Health "On Approval of the Rules of Good Laboratory Practice" 1, adhering to the principles of the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes, and strictly adhering to the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union on the Protection of Animals used for Scientific Purposes.

Received: 2025-10-04 Accepted: 2025-10-30 Published online: 2025-11-11
|

MicroRNAs are resistant to RNases and are highly specific for various pathological conditions, particularly inflammation, allowing them to be considered inflammation biomarkers. They were detected in all body fluids, and miR146a plays a key role in the pathogenesis of inflammation. A total of 180 male white Wistar rats were selected for the study. All animals were 8–10 weeks old and weighed 200–250 grams. The animals were divided into five groups of 36 each. The first received saline solution intramuscularly, while the others underwent experimental modeling of obesity and knee arthrosis. The second group received 1.0 ml of saline solution intramuscularly, while the third, fourth, and fifth groups received dexamethasone at doses of 1 ng/ml, 10 ng/ml, and 100 ng/ml, respectively. Blood samples for the study were collected on days 3, 5, and 10. The obtained parameters were analyzed at the statistical significance level (p < 0.05). Increased miR146a levels were observed in animals in the second group compared to the others, due to the development of inflammation associated with obesity and concomitant gonarthrosis. In the third group, expression levels decreased slightly, remaining high. In the fourth group, with the use of 10 ng/ml dexamethasone, miR146a expression levels decreased most significantly on days 3 and 5. In the fifth group, virtually no changes were observed, with the parameter decreasing only slightly. The 10 ng/ml dexamethasone dose demonstrated the greatest efficacy during the experiment, possessing the greatest anti-inflammatory activity compared to the other doses.

Keywords: inflammation, rats, microRNA, obesity, dexamethasone, gonarthrosis, expression, miR146a

КОММЕНТАРИИ (0)