Expression and clinical significance of serum miR-221 and miR-127 levels in children with severe pneumonia / 中国医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the expression and clinical significance of serum microRNA-221 (miR-221) and microRNA-127 (miR-127) levels in children with severe pneumonia.Methods:151 children with severe pneumonia treated in Handan Central Hospital from January 2017 to December 2019 were prospective selected as severe pneumonia group. According to the prognosis of children in hospital, they were divided into death group (16 cases) and survival group (135 cases). Another 80 healthy children who underwent physical examination in our hospital during the same period were selected as normal control group. Microarrays were used to analyze the expression of miRNAs in the severe pneumonia group and the normal control group, and the miRNAs with the most significant up-regulation or down-regulation (based on the difference expression change ≥2 times threshold and P<0.05) were selected. The serum miR-221, miR-127 and inflammatory factor [C-reactive protein (CRP), calcitonin (PCT) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 8 (IL-8), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)] levels were detected in the enrolled subjects. The correlation between serum miR-221 and miR-127 and the above inflammatory indicators in severe pneumonia group were analyzed. The diagnostic value and prognostic value of miR-221 and miR-127 in severe pneumonia were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results:The serum levels of miR-221 and miR-127 in severe pneumonia group were lower than those in normal control group, while the serum levels of CRP, PCT, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α were higher than those in the normal control group (all P<0.05). Serum miR-221 was negatively correlated with CRP, PCT, TNF-α (all P<0.05); Serum miR-127 was negatively correlated with CRP, PCT, IL-6 and IL-8 (all P<0.05). The serum levels of miR-221 and miR-127 in the death group were lower than those in the survival group ( P<0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) of miR-221 and miR-127 for the combined diagnosis of severe pneumonia was 0.871, and the AUC for the prognosis of severe pneumonia was 0.851. Conclusions:The serum levels of miR-221 and miR-127 in children with severe pneumonia decreased, which was negatively correlated with the levels of some inflammatory factors. The combined detection of miR-221 and miR-127 has high clinical value in the diagnosis and prognosis prediction of severe pneumonia.