RESUMO
Objective To explore the expression and clinical significance of microRNA (miR)-155 and miR -222 in plasma of patients with ventricular septal defect(VSD),and to analyze the possible mechanism.Methods A total of 20 children with VSD who received treatment at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery from August 2012 to June 2013 were enrolled (the VSD group)and 15 patients with fracture (the control group).The plasma miR -155 and miR -222 expression levels were measured by real -time quantitative reverse transcription -polymerase chain reaction (RT -qPCR).The potential target genes of miR -155 and miR -222 were predicted by using 3 current-ly available prediction programs,including TargetScan,mirbase and Miranda,and the signaling pathway of miRNA was predicted by Pathway -express analysis.Results Compared with the control group,the expression levels of miR -155 (P =0.033)and miR -222(P <0.001)in the VSD group decreased significantly;miR -155 and miR -222 predic-ted target genes included 74 and 50,respectively.The Pathway -express analysis indicated that 7 signaling pathways played important roles in the occurrence of fetal VSD,including signaling pathways for heart development,such as:mito-gen -activated protein kinase(MAPK)signaling pathway.Conclusions The expression levels of plasma miR -155 and miR -222 in VSD were significantly decreased.The target genes were related to signaling pathways for heart deve-lopment (MAPK signaling pathway),which indicates that miR -155 and miR -222 may be involved in the pathological process of VSD,and may serve as an independent evaluation indicator for the diagnosis of VSD.
