A microRNA signature in pediatric ulcerative colitis: deregulation of the miR-4284/CXCL5 pathway in the intestinal epithelium.

Background: Twenty to 25% of the patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) present the disease before the age of 18 to 20, with worse extent and severity, compared with adult-onset IBD. We sought to identify the differential expression of microRNAs in pediatric ulcerative colitis (UC) and their association with different clinical phenotypes.

Methods: MicroRNA expression analysis was performed in colonic tissues derived from pediatric patients with UC and controls without IBD.