Expression of miR-21 in Saliva of Oral Submucous Fibrosis

miRNAs are short (19-24 nucleotides in length) non coding RNAs that regulate messenger RNA (mRNA) or proteins levels either by promoting mRNA degradation or by attenuating protein translation. miRNA are good biomarkers.3Objectives: The present study was aimed to quantitatively investigate miRNA-21expression in saliva and exfoliative cells of osmf patients and to compare miRNA-21expression in saliva and exfoliative cells of osmf. Methods: A total no of 40 subjects were selected for the study, out of which 20 were controls and 20 were patients with oral submucous fibrosis. Based on the clinical and histopathological evaluation, these patients were confirmed for oral submucous fibrosis. The samples were subjected for analysis of the presence of miRNA using real-time PCR. Results: The results of the study showed that out of 20 study salivary and exfoliative cells samples, 14 salivary samples and 11 exfoliative cells showed the miRNA expression and whereas no control samples showed miRNA. After the analysis we found that the 70 % of study sample showed positive results for miRNA in saliva whereas 55 % in exfoliative cells. Clinical relevance: miRNAs in body fluids are currently extensively explored for their potential as noninvasive diagnostic tumour markers. Tumour specific miRNAs may improve oral and pre-cancer diagnosis& prognosis. saliva can be used as a potential sample for evaluating miRNA-21.