Correlation of miRNA-181c expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells with interferon-γ, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 10, and Toll-like receptor 4 in children with autoimmune hepatitis / 临床肝胆病杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation of miR-181c expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with interferon-γ (IFN-γ), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 10 (CXCL10), and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in children with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). MethodsA total of 27 children with AIH who were admitted to The Affiliated Hospital of Yanbian University from March 2015 to May 2019 were enrolled as AIH group, and 30 healthy children who underwent physical examination during the same period of were enrolled as control group. The expression of miR-181c in PBMCs and the expression of IFN-γ, CXCL10, and TLR4 were measured for the two groups. The t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to investigate the correlation of miR-181c expression with each index, and a logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the influence of each factor on AIH. ResultsCompared with the control group, the AIH group had significantly higher levels of the liver function parameters aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), and total bilirubin (TBil) (t=14.445,20.064，11.728,13.822, all P＜0.001). The AIH group also had significantly higher levels of IgA, IgM, and IgG than the control group (t=7.772, 5147, and 6771, all P＜0.05). The AIH group had significantly lower relative expression of miR-181c in PBMCs than the control group (0.784±0173 vs 1.106±0.224, t=5.819, P＜0.05). Compared with the control group, the AIH group had significantly higher levels of IFN-γ and CXCL10 and mRNA expression of TLR4 (t=6.949, 12.303, and 13.835, all P＜0.05). The correlation analysis showed that in the children with AIH, the expression of miR-181c in PBMCs was negatively correlated with IFN-γ, CXCL10, TLR4, AST, ALT, GGT, TBil, and IgG (r=-0.316, -0.348, -0.322, -0.427, -0.442, -0.408, -0.396, and -0.321, all P＜0.05). The univariate logistic regression analysis showed that AST, ALT, GGT, TBil, IFN-γ, CXCL10, TLR4 mRNA, and miR-181c were all included in the regression model (all P＜0.05) and were the influencing factors for the onset of AIH. ConclusionChildren with AIH have downregulated expression of miR-181c in PBMCs, which is closely associated with IFN-γ, CXCL10, and TLR4, suggesting that miR-181c may affect the development of AIH in children by regulating the immune system.