Exosomal microRNA signatures in the crossroads of periodontitis and HNSCC

Introduction : Inflammatory pathways are considered the crossroads of oral cancer and periodontitis. Exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as key regulators linking inflammation and carcinogenesis. Aim : This study aimed to identify differentially expressed miRNAs associated with periodontitis (PD) and evaluate their relevance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) using a bioinformatics approach. Materials and methods : miRNA expression data from the GSE89081 dataset ( n =10) were analyzed using GEO2R with an adjusted p -value of <0.05. Selected miRNAs were validated in the TCGA-HNSCC dataset via UALCAN, followed by survival analysis. Exosomal localization and target gene prediction were performed using ExoCarta and TargetScan. Results : Among the 25 microRNAs curated from the dataset based on statistical significance, five were significantly expressed in HNSCC and had a notable impact on patient survival. A set of differentially expressed miRNAs was identified, among which hsa-miR-193b-5p and hsa-miR-877-5p were consistently upregulated in both PD and HNSCC datasets. Higher expression levels of these miRNAs were associated with reduced overall survival. Conclusions : The microRNAs, hsa-miR-193b-5p, and hsa-miR-877-5p were significantly upregulated in both datasets. Also, overexpression of these microRNAs was associated with reduced overall survival in patients with HNSCC. Furthermore, low expression of the target transcript of hsa-miR-193b-5p, FLI1 , was associated with poor survival in HNSCC patients. These findings suggest a potential role in inflammation-associated carcinogenesis; however, due to the small sample size and in silico design, further experimental validation is warranted.