ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of smoking on the microRNAs (miRNAs) expression in pneumoconiosis patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Real-time qPCR was used to measure the expression levels of miR-21, miR-200c, miR-16, miR-204, miR-206, miR-155, let-7g, miR-30b, and miR-192 in 36 non-smoking patients with pneumoconiosis and 38 smoking patients with pneumoconiosis, and the differences in expression levels between the two groups were evaluated by two-independent samples t-test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression of miR-192 in serum showed a significant difference between non-smoking and smoking pneumoconiosis patients (P < 0.05), and it decreased gradually in smoking patients with stage I and II pneumoconiosis. In the serum of all pneumoconiosis patients, the expression level of miR-16 was the highest, while the expression level of miR-204 was the lowest.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Pneumoconiosis patients have differential expression of miRNAs in serum, and smoking has an effect on the miRNAs expression in pneumoconiosis patients.</p>