Expression of plasma microRNA-223 (miR-223) in pediatric severe pneumonia patients and its relationship with severe pneumonia / 中国医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the changes of plasma microRNA-223 (miR-223) in pediatric severe pneumonia patients and its relationship with severe pneumonia.Methods There were 50 children with severe pneumonia enrolled in the study (observation group),and 50 healthy children were selected as control group (normal control group).The expression levels of plasma miR-223 were detected by real time polymerase chain reaction.The relationship between miR-223 and procalcitonin (PCT),C-reactive protein (CRP),tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF)-α,and interleukin (IL)-10 were analyzed.The predictive value of miR-223 in plasma,PCT,and CRP to severe pneumonia was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.The relationship between miR-223,T cells,TNF-α,and IL-10 was analyzed.Results The plasma miR-223 expression levels in observation group were upregulated compared to those in the normal control group [(16.01 ± 5.17) × 10-4 mg/L vs (5.44 ± 2.21) × 10-4 mg/L,t =7.46,P ＜ 0.01].The CRP and PCT expression levels in severe pneumonia patients were higher than those of the normal control group [z =5.496,5.198,P ＜0.05,orP ＜0.01].The expressions of CD4+ CD25+Treg,miR-223,and IL-10 in observation group were higher than those of normal control group (P ＜0.05).The expression of CD4 + CD25 + Treg,miR-223,and IL-10 in the death children were higher.There was a positive correlation between miR-223 and IL-10 (r =0.335,0.571,P ＜ 0.01).The sensitivity and specific degrees to predict the severe pneumonia in mir-223,PCT,and CRP were 83.79％,86.12％,66.68％,91.05％,78.01％,and 44.23％,respectively.miR-223 was better than PCT and CRP to predict severe pneumonia in children.Conclusions The expression levels of plasma miR-223 in children with severe pneumonia could reflect the immunity,and it can be used as early prognostic markers to reflect the severity of inflammation in some degree.