Dysregulation of inflammation-related long non-coding RNAs in autistic children

Purpose We investigated the expression of inflammation-related lncRNAs—RMRP, CTC 487M23.5, FOXD3-AS1, and DGCR5—in children with autism. The aim was to explore their potential as biomarkers in autism. Materials and Methods Expression levels of lncRNAs were assessed in the peripheral blood of 30 autistic children and 41 controls using real-time PCR. Results Significant downregulation of RMRP, CTC 487M23.5, and FOXD3-AS1 was observed in the peripheral blood of autistic children compared to healthy controls. No significant modification in the levels of DGCR5 was detected. The areas under the ROC curve for RMRP, CTC 487M23.5, and FOXD3-AS1 were 0.64, 0.71, and 0.65, respectively. A significant correlation was found between age and the expression levels of RMRP and DGCR5 in autistic children, while the expression levels of CTC 487M23.5 correlated significantly with the age of healthy children. DGCR5 was associated with CTC 487M23.5 and FOXD3-AS1 in both autistic and healthy children, and a significant direct correlation was observed between CTC 487M23.5 and FOXD3-AS1 in the autistic group. Conclusion Dysregulation of these lncRNAs in the peripheral blood of autistic children may reflect systemic inflammation, a process also implicated in CNS pathology. However, direct evidence of CNS involvement requires further investigation in brain tissue or relevant models. Given the modest sample size and the neurobiological heterogeneity of autism, these results should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating. CTC‑487M23.5 and RMRP showed promising but preliminary discriminatory potential, warranting further validation in larger, independent cohorts before any clinical application can be considered.