Investigation Of The Molecular Role Of Cell-Free Nuclear DNA And Cell-Free Mitochondrial DNA In Asthmatic Patients

Abstract

Asthma is a chronic reversible inflammatory disease of airways characterized by chronic inflammation
and airway hyper-reactivity. The genetic and immunological factors besides environmental agents as
virus infection have an essential role in the pathophysiology of bronchial asthma in different
populations. Limited data are available concerning the clinical relevance of cf DNA in asthmatic patients.
This study aims to investigate the clinical significance of cf DNA in patients with asthma. Forty asthmatic
patients (20 males and 20 females) and the control group consisted of 20 healthy individuals (10 males
and 10 females). The calculation of gene expression fold changed was made using relative
quantification. This depends on the normalization of Ct values calculating the ∆Ct. Results of ∆Ct for
the control group displayed a mean of 6.8, whereas for patients group 11.5 with a significant difference
p=0.001 when compared patients to controls. Results of ΔΔ Ct showed a significant difference for the
patient's group with a mean of 4.68. The fold of gene expression in the patient's group of cf-mt DNA
was 0.039 lower than that of the control group. These results indicate that cf-mt DNA down regulated
significantly in asthmatic patients.