Maternal hsa-miR-423-5p associated with the cognitive development of babies in pregnant women without mental disorders

Cainá Corrêa do Amaral; Fernanda Nedel; Camila Perelló Ferrúa; Tiago Fernandez Garcia; Geovanna Peter Corrêa; Roberta Giorgi; Aline Longoni Dos Santos; Adriano Martimbianco de Assis; Luciana de Avila Quevedo; Gabriele Cordenonzi Ghisleni; Mariana Bonati de Matos; Karen Amaral Tavares Pinheiro; Jéssica Puchalski Trettim; Ricardo Tavares Pinheiro

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2024.1322820

Maternal hsa-miR-423-5p associated with the cognitive development of babies in pregnant women without mental disorders

Front Hum Neurosci. 2024 Feb 29:18:1322820. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1322820. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Cainá Corrêa do Amaral¹, Fernanda Nedel², Camila Perelló Ferrúa¹, Tiago Fernandez Garcia¹, Geovanna Peter Corrêa², Roberta Giorgi¹, Aline Longoni Dos Santos¹, Adriano Martimbianco de Assis¹, Luciana de Avila Quevedo¹, Gabriele Cordenonzi Ghisleni¹, Mariana Bonati de Matos¹, Karen Amaral Tavares Pinheiro³, Jéssica Puchalski Trettim¹, Ricardo Tavares Pinheiro¹

Affiliations

¹ Post-Graduate Program in Health and Behavior, Catholic University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
² Anatomy Department, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Brazil.

Abstract

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs capable of regulating gene expression post-transcriptionally. MiRNAs are recognized as key regulators of diverse biological and developmental processes. During the pregnancy-puerperal cycle, numerous changes occur in the female body for the formation, growth, and development of the baby. After birth, there is a critical period in child development, as rapid gains in the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional domains constitute the "building blocks" of children's later growth.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between maternal expression of hsa-miR-423-5p during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy and neurocognitive development at 90 days of life in infants. Methods: This is a longitudinal study included in a population-based cohort study, carried out in a city in southern Brazil. The Bayley III was used to assess the babies' cognitive development. Blood samples from mothers were obtained for RNA extraction from serum and analysis of miRNA expression by qRT-PCR.

Results: In total, 87 dyads (mother-baby) were included. The average gestational age was 15.86 weeks (SD ± 5.55). An association of maternal miRNA with infant cognitive development was found; as maternal miR-423-5p increases, infants' cognitive development increases by 2.40 (95% CI 0.37; 4.43, p = 0.021) points at 3 months of age.

Conclusion: In this context, it is suggested to use this miRNA as a biomarker of child neurocognitive development detectable in the prenatal period, thus allowing the planning of early interventions.

Keywords: babies; cognitive development; microRNA; pregnancy; retinoic acid.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by the Ministry of Health (DECIT) Brazil, CNPq/Brazil (Process 401726/2015–0 APP/Call 47/2014), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (INV-007186/OPP1142172) and INCT-EN (National Institute of Science and Technology, Brazil).