en ژنتیک Genetic پژوهشي Research <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Background: </span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Chronic drug abuse changes microRNA (miRNA) expression in the brain, which may contribute to addictive behaviors. Many miRNAs play critical roles in developing drug addiction. Methamphetamine induces various alterations in different systems by affecting gene expression, but the effects of methamphetamine on miRNA profiles need to be elucidated. This study evaluated the expression of miRNA-183 and miRNA-143 in the blood of methamphetamine abusers and controls.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Methods: </span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">In this case-control study, the case group comprised 60 people with a methamphetamine addiction from Tabriz City, East Azerbaijan, Iran, and the control group comprised 60 healthy controls of comparable ages and ethnicities. Total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples, and then cDNA was synthesized. MicroRNA-183 and microRNA-143 expression levels were determined using real-time PCR.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Results: </span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">The results indicated that methamphetamine abusers had significantly higher blood levels of miRNA-143 than healthy controls (P<0.05); however, miRNA-183 expression was comparable between the two groups (P>0.05).</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Conclusion: </span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:107%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">MicroRNA-143 may play a role in the pathology of methamphetamine abuse, so it may be used as an additional method to identify people with an addiction precisely.</span></span></span></span></span></span> Addiction, Methamphetamine, MicroRNA-183, MicroRNA-143, Biomarker 255 262 http://rmm.mazums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1263-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Gholamreza Khanbabaie gh.khanbabaie@gmail.com 100319475328460011634 100319475328460011634 No Department of Genetics, Bonab Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bonab, Iran Hossein Soltanzadeh hossien4040@gmail.com 100319475328460011635 100319475328460011635 Yes Department of Genetics, Bonab Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bonab, Iran Hasan Montazem montazem.hasan@gmail.com 100319475328460011636 100319475328460011636 No Department of Genetics, Bonab Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bonab, Iran