Expression of microRNA-142-3p in serum of septic patients and its clinical significance

Objective To observe the expression of serum microRNA-142-3p (miR-142-3p) in septic patients and to explore its relationship with sepsis. Methods Forty-one patients with sepsis were selected as study subjects, and 20 non-septic patients hospitalized in the same period as the control group. The expression of serum miR-142-3p was detected by real-time quantitative PCR, and levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-10 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The relationship between miR-142-3p and septic patients' clinical characteristics and laboratory indexes was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis. In the same time, the predictive value of miR-142-3p, IL-6, IL-10, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), white blood cell count and lactic acid on sepsis was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results The white blood cell count [(14.4 ± 7.8) × 109/L vs. (8.4 ± 2.1) × 109/L, t = 4.571, P < 0.001], CRP [(127 ± 80) mg/L vs. (80 ± 45) mg/L, t = 2.436, P = 0.018], lactic acid [(2.3 ± 1.8) mmol/L vs. (1.5 ± 0.6) mmol/L, t = 2.421, P = 0.019], PCT [5.70 (1.49, 26.37) μg/L vs. 0.25 (0.10, 0.63) μg/L, Z = 75.500, P < 0.001], IL-6 [342.33 (64.98, 2 618.44) ng/L vs. 14.95 (3.21, 54.51) ng/L, Z = 84.000, P < 0.001], IL-10 [23.16 (6.19, 85.56) ng/L vs. 2.75 (1.39, 5.36) ng/L, Z = 198.500, P = 0.001] and miR-142-3p [95.74 (23.19, 278.23) vs. 25.64 (18.59, 56.05), Z = 222.000, P = 0.004] were significantly higher in the sepsis group than in control group. MiR-142-3p was positively correlated with lactic acid, IL-6 and PCT (r = 0.427, 0.340, 0.309; P = 0.005, 0.030, 0.049). Patients with sepsis were divided into the survival group (29 cases) and death group (12 cases) according to their survival conditions on 28 days. The scores of acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) Ⅱ [(14 ± 6) vs. (25 ± 6)] and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) [(6.0 ± 2.8) vs. (10.7 ± 3.5)], and lactic acid expression [(1.6 ± 1.0) mmol/L vs. (3.8 ± 2.6) mmol/L] in the survival group were significantly lower than those in the death group (t = 5.406, 4.482, 2.835; all P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that miR-142-3p [area under the curve (AUC) = 0.729, 95%CI (0.602, 0.856), P = 0.004], IL-6 [AUC = 0.898, 95%CI (0.820, 0.975), P < 0.001], CRP [AUC = 0.698, 95%CI (0.566, 0.831), P = 0.013], PCT [AUC = 0.908, 95%CI (0.835, 0.981), P < 0.001], IL-10 [AUC = 0.758, 95%CI (0.631, 0.885), P = 0.001)] and white blood cell count [AUC = 0.776, 95%CI (0.659, 0.893), P = 0.001)] have predictive value for sepsis. Conclusion The expression of serum miR-142-3p in septic patients increases, and it is positively related with lactic acid, IL-6 and PCT, which may play an important role in the development of sepsis. Key words: Sepsis; MicroRNA-142-3p; Serum