Acute and post-acute phase of COVID-19: Analyzing expression patterns of miRNA-29a-3p, 146a-3p, 155-5p, and let-7b-3p in PBMC

Abstract

Background When a new pathogen, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, appears all novel information can aid in the process of monitoring and in the diagnosis of the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19). The aim of the current study is to elucidate the specific miRNA profile which can act as new biomarkers for distinguishing acute COVID-19 disease from the healthy group and those in the post-acute phase of the COVID-19 disease. Methods The expression level of selected miRNAs including let-7b-3p, miR-29a-3p, miR-146a-3p and miR-155-5p were evaluated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of COVID-19 patients, in both the acute and post-acute COVID-19 phase of the disease and healthy groups, by real-time PCR assays. Specificity and sensitivity of miRNAs was tested by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis in COVID-19 patients. Results The expression level of all miRNAs in COVID-19 patients was significantly higher than in the healthy group. Therefore, the expression pattern of miR-29a-3p, miR-146a-3p and let-7b-3p in the post-acute COVID-19 phase was significantly different from the acute COVID-19 phase. ROC analyses demonstrated that miR-29a-3p, -155-5p and -146a-3p may serve as the novel biomarker for COVID-19 diagnosis with high specificity and sensitivity. In addition, miR-29a-3p, and -146a-3p can maybe act as novel biomarkers for distinguishing acute from post-acute phase of COVID-19 disease. Discussion The difference in miRNA expression pattern between COVID-19 patients and those in the healthy group, and between acute COVID-19 with post-acute COVID-19, suggested that cellular miRNAs could be used as promising biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring of COVID-19.

The MiR-320 Family Is Strongly Downregulated in Patients with COVID-19 Induced Severe Respiratory Failure

“…However, although there is very little or no literature about these miRNAs, they should be kept in mind as possible markers for progressive COVID-19 disease. Other miRNAs that were significantly deregulated in our analysis, such as miR-21-5p, miR-27, 126-5p, miR-146, or miR-142 have already attracted attention in other COVID-19 studies [ 42 , 43 , 44 ]. In agreement with Garg et al, who investigated circulating microRNAs in critically ill COVID-19 patients, we discovered dysregulated miRNAs involved in inflammatory processes such as miR-21-5p and 126-5p [ 44 ].…”

Forecasting of Oxidant/Antioxidant levels of COVID-19 patients by using Expert models with biomarkers used in the Diagnosis/Prognosis of COVID-19

“…When a new pathogen such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), emerges, all new information can assist in the monitoring and diagnosis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) [13] . In many previous studies, it has been reported that oxidative stress is associated with the occurrence or prognosis of many diseases such as diabetes, alzheimer, obesity, immune deficiency, cardiovascular diseases and prognosis of viral diseases [14] , [15] , [16] .…”

MiRNA Profiling in Plasma and Placenta of SARS-CoV-2-Infected Pregnant Women

“…While SARS-CoV-2/host miRNA interactions have been carefully investigated in cohorts with a different clinical outcome or through in silico prediction analysis [ 13 , 14 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], only a limited number of analyses focused on the miRNA/transcriptional profile of SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant women. Difficulties related to the proper collection and storage of biopsy specimens from women in labor, for further bio-molecular analyses, may have slowed down the gathering of such essential information.…”