INTRODUCTION: Several microRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis but the evidence from individual case control studies remains inconclusive. METHODS: A systematic literature review was performed, followed by standardised multi-stage data extraction, quality control, and meta-analyses on eligible data for brain, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens. Results were compared with miRNAs reported in the abstracts of eligible studies or recent

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... reviews to assess novelty. RESULTS: Data from 147 independent datasets across 107 publications were quantitatively assessed in 461 meta-analyses. Twenty-five, five, and 32 miRNAs showed study-wide significant differential expression (α<1.08x10-4) in brain, CSF, and blood-derived specimens, respectively, with 5 miRNAs showing differential expression in both brain and blood. Of these 57 miRNAs, 13 had not been reported in the abstracts of previous original or review articles. DISCUSSION: Our systematic assessment of differential miRNA expression is the first of its kind in AD and highlights miRNAs of relevance.