Benita Buragaite-Staponkiene

Mrs. Benita Buragaite-Staponkiene


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

4Years (2023-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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BBBenita Buragaite-Staponkiene
Benita Buragaite-Staponkiene
ARAdomas Rovas
Adomas Rovas
APAlina Puriene
Alina Puriene
KSKristina Snipaitiene
Kristina Snipaitiene
EPEgle Punceviciene
Egle Punceviciene
SJSonata Jarmalaite
Sonata Jarmalaite
This study aimed to identify the microRNAs (miRNAs) associated with periodontitis (PD) in gingival tissues, and to evaluate the levels of these selected miRNAs in the saliva and blood plasma among participants with and without rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A genome-wide miRNA expression analysis in 16 gingival tissue samples revealed 177 deregulated miRNAs. The validation of the miRNA profiling results in 80 gingival tissue samples revealed that the PD-affected tissues had a higher expression of miR-140-3p and -145-5p, while the levels of miR-125a-3p were significantly lower in inflamed tissues. After a thorough validation, four miRNAs, namely miR-140-3p, -145-5p, -146a-5p, and -195-5p, were selected for further analysis in a larger sample of salivary (N = 173) and blood plasma (N = 221) specimens. Increased salivary levels of miR-145-5p were associated with higher mean values of pocket probing depth and bleeding on probing index. The plasma-derived levels of miR-140-3p were higher among the participants with PD. In conclusion, the gingival levels of miR-140-3p, -145-5p, and -125a-3p were independently associated with PD presence and severity. The salivary and blood plasma levels of the target miRNAs were diversely related to PD. Similar miRNA associations with PD were observed among the participants with and without RA.