Evaluation of Changes in miR-20a Expression Changes in War Wounded Exposed to Mustard Gas

Sulfur mustard or mustard gas is a blistering agent that has been used as a war weapon. Chemical veterans are people who have multiple injuries in different organs, especially in the skin. Studies have shown that the side effects of mustard gas are the result of alkylation with DNA, RNA, protein, and lipids, which leads to metabolic and genetic changes. The respiratory system and the skin are the main targets of mustard gas alkylation. microRNAs are small non-coding and single-stranded RNAs that play a role in the spatial and spatial regulation of protein synthesis and the stability of messenger RNA. The disruption of the expression of any miRNA gene will be equal to the disruption of the expression of several protein-coding genes, each of which can play an essential role in cell biology, so to investigate the changes in the expression of microRNA, miR-20a, in the skin of chemically injured people. In this study, 30 skin biopsy samples were collected, including 10 samples from patients with moderate SM, 10 samples from patients with severe SM, and 10 control samples. RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis were performed. The expression of the miR-20a gene was investigated using the Real-time PCR method. 5s rRNA gene was used as the internal control. GraphPad Prism 6.07 software was used for the statistical analysis of data. Roc curve was used to check the biomarker value of the miR-20a gene. In this study, according to the results of the Roc curve, the miR-20a gene in the skin has a biomarker value, but it needs more study.