Association of SCN1A Polymorphisms (rs2298771 and rs7601520) with Peripheral Blood miR-150 Expression in Iraqi Children with Epilepsy: An Exploratory Case–Control Study

Despite the fact that epilepsy is a widely prevalent neurological disorder that has a significant genetic basis, the interaction between SCN1A polymorphisms and circulating microRNAs has been poorly studied, especially in Middle Eastern populations. The aim of this exploratory case–control study was to explore the distribution of SCN1A polymorphisms (rs2298771 and rs7601520) and relation with peripheral blood miR-150 expression in Iraqi children with epilepsy. A total of 70 children with epilepsy, who had never taken any medication, and 30 healthy controls were recruited. Genotyping was done by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Sanger sequencing, and miR-150 expression was determined by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) using the 2−ΔCt method. Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium tests were used to assess the genotype distributions at a P value of < 0.05. The genotype frequencies in the control group were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. There were no statistically significant differences in the genotype or allele frequencies of the two SNP (rs2298771 and rs7601520) between the patients and controls. There was a slight up-regulation of miR-150 in patients versus controls (fold change = 1.38) but it was not statistically significant (P = 0.24). Likewise, there was no significant difference in miR-150 expression between any of the genotype groups of both polymorphisms. To our knowledge, this is the first exploratory study in Iraq that investigated both polymorphisms (SCN1A rs2298771 and SCN1A rs7601520) and expression of peripheral blood miR-150 in children with epilepsy. Although no significant associations were found in this cohort, the results can serve as baseline molecular information of the Iraqi pediatric population and may help in designing larger multicenter studies to further explore the possible role of these markers in childhood epilepsy.