Serum microRNA-133b is associated with low ceruloplasmin levels in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: The cause of low serum ceruloplasmin levels in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains to be clarified. In this study, we explored serum miR-133b expression to determine whether it correlates with serum ceruloplasmin level in PD patients.

Methods: Forty-six patients with PD and forty-six control subjects were evaluated for miR-133b expression using qRT-PCR. The serum ceruloplasmin levels in all of the subjects were also determined.

Results: Serum miR-133b expression levels were significantly decreased in PD patients compared with those in the control subjects. Furthermore, PD patients with low serum ceruloplasmin levels also exhibited significantly lower expression of miR-133b compared with that of patients with normal ceruloplasmin levels. MiR-133b expression was correlated with the ceruloplasmin level in patients with PD, whereas no correlation was found between miR-133b and disease severity or motor phenotype.

Conclusion: Our observations suggest that miR-133b might be involved in ceruloplasmin dysmetabolism in PD patients and a further investigation is warranted to confirm this hypothesis.