Forensic Context

A study in humans identified the mir-130a as down-regulated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of chronic benzene poisoning patients compared to healthy controls, with this differential expression integrated into a broader miRNA profile associated with key cancer-related pathways [Bai et al. DOI:10.1016/J.Yexmp.2014.04.011]. A systematic review further catalogued the mir-130a as a down-regulated biomarker for chronic benzene poisoning, noting that the field of miRNA exposure biomarkers remains in its infancy and requires further validation [Kotsyfakis et al. DOI:10.1080/1354750X.2019.1652348]. A study in human postmortem brain tissue demonstrated that the mir-130a is upregulated in traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases compared to non-traumatic controls and its expression is significantly higher in cases with short (<1 day) and middle (1–7 days) survival times, indicating its role as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker correlating with injury timing [Consalvo et al. DOI:10.3390/ijms25179539]. In a murine model of paraquat-induced lung injury, the mir-130a was downregulated in alveolar epithelial cells and its target genes, including BCL2 and TGFBR1, are involved in regulating oxidative stress and apoptosis pathways [Zhao et al. DOI:10.2131/Jts.45.423].