Aim: To investigate the effect of miR-146a on the Th1/Th2 cytokine expression in mouse RAW264.7 cell line and primary peritoneal macrophage.
Methods: miR-146a mimics, mimics negative control (NC mimics), inhibitor miR-146a and inhibitor negative control (NC inhibitor) were transfected into RAW264.7 cells and freshly isolated peritoneal macrophage. IL-18, IL-5 and IL-10 expressions in the cells were measured by real time PCR.
Results: MiR-146a mimics suppressed IL-18 expression (P<0.05), and miR-146a specific inhibitor increased IL-18 expression significantly (P<0.05). However, IL-5 and IL-10 expressions were not affected by both miR-146a mimics and miR-146a inhibitor transfections.
Conclusion: These data demonstrate at first time that miR-146a can regulate Th1 cytokine IL-18 expression, but not affect Th2 cytokine IL-5 and IL-10 expressions.