miR-132 and miR-942 Expression Levels in Children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder: A Controlled Study

Objective: Although attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a disease with high genetic transition, our knowl-edge about the mechanism of the disease is limited. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the levels of miR-132-3p and miR-942-5p that are associated with the dopamine carrier protein gene (DAT1) and dopamine receptor 5 (DRD5) genes, which have been shown to play a role in the development of ADHD. Methods: According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition, 50 children diagnosed with ADHD and 48 healthy controls were included in the study. Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia Interview Sche-dule-Now and Lifetime Version-Turkish Adaptation was used to evaluate ADHD and the diagnoses accompanying ADHD. Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction was used to evaluate miR-132-3p and miR-942-5p expression levels. Results: It was observed that miR-132-3p level (p = 0.001) was significantly higher with children with ADHD compared to the control group, and the level of miR-942-5p (p = 0.181) was higher in ADHD but did not reach statistically significant level. Conclusion: In our study, we found that the increase in the miR-132-3p levels of children with ADHD may be a ther-apeutic target of the disease.