Expression and clinical significance of miR-34a-5p in lumbar disc herniation

This study aimed to investigate the expression, clinical significance, and underlying molecular mechanism of miR-34a-5p in Lumbar disc herniation (LDH). A total of 112 patients with LDH and 112 healthy controls were enrolled. Serum miR-34a-5p expression was measured by RT-qPCR, and its diagnostic value was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. The correlations of miR-34a-5p with clinical indicators and inflammatory factors were analyzed. In vitro, an IL-1β-induced inflammatory injury model of human nucleus pulposus cells (HNPCs) was established to verify the function of miR-34a-5p. Serum miR-34a-5p was markedly upregulated in patients with LDHmiR-34a-5p was positively correlated with disease severity, the Visual Analogue Scale, Oswestry Disability Index, Pfirrmann grade, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and negatively correlated with Japanese Orthopaedic Association score and IL-10. In vitro, IL-1β upregulated miR-34a-5p in HNPCs; miR-34a-5p overexpression aggravated the inhibition of cell viability and the inflammatory response, whereas its knockdown alleviated these effects. Mechanistically, miR-34a-5p directly targeted and suppressed ZBTB20 mRNA expression. miR-34a-5p is highly expressed in LDH and may serves as a promising diagnostic biomarker. It promotes HNPC inflammatory injury and LDH progression by targeting ZBTB20.