ABSTRACT
Objective To understand the underlying mechanism of mites-induced pediatric asthma by bioinformatic analysis on speciifc microRNA (miRNA) array and target gene screening. Methods This is a case control study of 62 pairs of dust mites-induced asthma children with age and gender matched healthy controls. Twelve pairs were randomly selected for miRNA array. The abnormal expression of miRNAs was compared between asthma and control children. The results were validated by RT-qPCR and bioinformatic analysis in remaining pairs of children. Results Six miRNAs (miRNA-151a-5p, 625-5p, 126-3p, 513a-5p, 27b-3p, 22-3p) were signiifcantly down-regulated more than two folds in dust mites-induced asthma children than those in controls. The enriched bioinformatics analysis showed that these miRNAs and their target genes CBL, PPARGC1B, ESR1, ONECUT2, EGFR, SYK, and STAT1 were related to inlfammatory cytokine signaling pathway. Conclusion It is suggested that miR-22-3p, 513a-5p, 625-5p, 27b-3p, and miRNA-target genes form a network through co-regulation to target genes to participate dust mites-induced asthma in children.