Roles of microRNAs in chronic pediatric diseases and their use as potential biomarkers: A review

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding highly conserved RNA molecules that can act as master regulators of gene expression in a sequence-specific manner either by translation repression or mRNA degradation, influencing a wide range of biologic processes that are essential for the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. Chronic pediatric diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide among children and the recent evidence indicates that aberrant miRNA expression significantly contributes to the development of chronic pediatric diseases. This review focuses on the role of miRNAs in five major chronic pediatric diseases including bronchial asthma, congenital heart diseases, cystic fibrosis, type 1 diabetes mellitus, and epilepsy, and their potential use as novel biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of these disorders.