Identification of
microRNAs (
miRNAs) could be beneficial for the diagnosis and prognosis of
glioma. Therefore, we attempted to identify and develop specific
miRNAs as prognostic and predictive markers for
glioma patients. We compared the expression profiles of 365
miRNAs between 4
glioblastomas (GBMs, WHO grade IV) and 4
anaplastic astrocytomas (AAs, WHO grade III) using
miRNA qPCR Array. MiR-196a (P = 0.004, fold change = 289.86) and miR-367 (P = 0.044, fold change = 0.03) were identified as the most up-regulated and down-regulated
miRNAs in GBMs compared with AAs, respectively. We subsequently examined miR-196a and miR-367 expression levels in an independent series of 63
gliomas including 50 GBMs and 13 AAs, as well as 10 non-neoplastic brain tissues, and statistically analyzed the associations between
miRNA expression and clinicopathological characteristics and survivals of these
glioma patients. MiR-196a and miR-367 showed significant increased and decreased expression in high-grade
gliomas relative to non-neoplastic brains, as well as in GBMs versus AAs, respectively. Additionally, high-miR-196a and low-miR-367 expression, alone or in combination, statistically correlated with aggressive clinicopathological features of
gliomas. Furthermore, overall survivals of
glioma patients with high-miR-196a, low-miR-367 and high-miR-196a/low-miR-367 expression tended to be shorter than the corresponding control groups (all P ≤ 0.001). Moreover, multivariate analysis indicated high-miR-196a/low-miR-367 as an independent prognostic
indicator for
glioma patients (P = 0.005, risk ratio = 1.8). Our results suggested that both high-miR-196a and low-miR-367 expression may be associated with aggressive progression and unfavorable clinical outcome in
glioma patients. And combination of high-miR-196a and low-miR-367 expression may be a novel
biomarker in identifying a poor prognosis group of high-grade
glioma.