hand, foot, and mouth disease (hFMD) is a common pediatric disease, whose outcome depends of the enterovirus genotype infecting the patient. The present study is focused on the potential diagnostic value and the role of circulating microRNA-494 (miR-494) in enterovirus 71-induced more severe form of hFMD. We included 102 children with enterovirus 71 (EV71)-induced hFMD, 42 coxsackievirus A16 (CA16)-induced hFMD and 102 healthy controls. The plasma and serum samples were collected. The expression level of circulating miR-494 was determined by RT-PCR method. Moreover, RoC curve has been drawn to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of circulating miR-494 for the diagnosis of EV71induced hFMD. Furthermore, the correlation between the circulating miR-494 and the levels of interleukin 6 (iL-6), interleukin 4 (iL-4) and interferon γ (iFN-γ) in the serum of patients were analyzed. Circulating miR-494 was significantly increased in plasma of children with EV71-induced hFMD compared with the healthy children or CA16-induced hFMD, and level of miR-494 in the EV71 severe group was significantly higher than the EV71 mild group. Moreover, results of RoC analysis suggested that miR-494 is a sensitive biomarker to distinguish EV71 patients from healthy controls and CA16 patients. Furthermore, iL-6 and iFN-γ were elevated in serum of patients with EV71-induced hFMD and the level of circulating miR-494 in patients with EV71-induced hFMD was positively correlated with the serum levels of both iL-6 and iFN-γ, respectively. Circulating miR-494 was abnormally up-regulated in plasma of the children with EV71-induced hFMD, and miR-494 may serve as potential biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
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