Background: Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) is a mitochondrial redox-induced proton pump that links NADPH synthesis to the mitochondrial metabolic pathway. It also participates in the regulation of immune responses. A long non-coding RNA namely NNT-antisense 1 (NNT-AS1) has been shown to be transcribed from the same locus and exert anti-proliferative effects in some tissues. Methods: In the current study, we evaluated expression of NNT and NNT-AS1 in peripheral blood of 50 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients compared with healthy subjects. The difference in NNT expression was significant in only in male subjects aged over 50 when compared with the corresponding control subgroup. Results: For NNT-AS1, based on the results of Quantile regression and adjustment of the effects of age and sex as well as the interaction between sex and disease status, no significant difference was found between cases and controls. Moreover, NNT and NNT-AS1 expressions were correlated with age in controls and in female subjects respectively. Conclusion: Finally, we assessed correlations between expressions of these genes and detected significant pairwise correlations between transcript levels of NNT and NNT-AS1 genes in both cases and controls. The current study highlights a gender-specific role for NNT in the pathogenesis of MS.
Keywords: multiple sclerosis.