Increased expression of microRNA-21 in peripheral blood mediates the down-regulation of IFN-γ and increases the prevalence of stroke-associated infection

• Published in: Journal of the neurological sciences 2016-07, Vol.366, p.235-239
• Main Authors: Lin, Shao-Peng, Ye, Shan, Chen, Xiao-Hui, Jiang, Hui-Lin, Mao, Hai-Feng, Chen, Mei-Ting, Ma, Qiu-Jie, Long, Youming, Fan, Yongxiang, Lin, Pei-Yi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Area Under Curve; Biomarkers - blood; Blood Chemical Analysis; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; IFN-γ; Infection; Infection - blood; Infection - complications; Infection - epidemiology; Interferon-gamma - blood; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Linear Models; Male; MicroRNA-21; MicroRNAs - blood; Middle Aged; Neurology; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Prevalence; ROC Curve; Stroke; Stroke - blood; Stroke - complications; Stroke - epidemiology; Stroke - immunology
• ISSN: 0022-510X; 1878-5883
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2016.03.034

Abstract Background Increasing levels of microRNA (miRNA)-21 can lead to IFN-γ deficiency, thereby suppressing immune function. Whether changes in the peripheral blood expression of miRNA-21 in patients with acute stroke are related to stroke-associated infection (SAI) remains unsettled. Methods MiRNA-21 and IFN-γ expression levels in peripheral blood plasma were measured in stroke patients presenting within 24 h of symptom onset to assess whether these expression levels are associated with the prevalence of SAI. Results The stroke with SAI group had significantly higher miRNA-21 expression and lower IFN-γ levels than the stroke without SAI group ( p < 0.05). A significant negative correlation was observed between miRNA-21 expression and IFN-γ levels (r = − 0.303, p = 0.026). ROC curves were constructed to measure the performance of the miRNA-21 and IFN-γ to judge SAI. The areas under the ROC curve (AUC) for miRNA-21 and IFN-γ were 0.667 (95% CI, 0.525 to 0.798, p = 0.028) and 0.698 (95% CI, 0.558 to 0.816, p = 0.005), respectively. The optimal cutoff value was miRNA-21 > 0.53 and IFN-γ ≤ 72.57 pg/ml. There was a significantly different prevalence of SAI between the high miRNA-21 group and the low miRNA-21 group ( p = 0.008, log rank test). There was also a significant difference between the high IFN-γ group and the low IFN-γ group ( p = 0.003, log rank test). Conclusions Plasma up-regulated miRNA-21 and decreased IFN-γ in acute stroke can be considered new biological predictors for SAI and thus, new therapeutic targets.