miRNA-23b as a biomarker of culture-positive neonatal sepsis

Abstract

Background Neonatal sepsis remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality. The ability to quickly and accurately diagnose neonatal sepsis based on clinical assessments and laboratory blood tests remains difficult, where haemoculture is the gold standard for detecting bacterial sepsis in blood culture. It is also very difficult to study because neonatal samples are lacking. Methods Forty-eight newborns suspected of sepsis admitted to the Neonatology Department of the Mother-Child Specialized Hospital of Tlemcen. From each newborn, a minimum of 1–2 ml of blood was drawn by standard sterile procedures for blood culture. The miRNA-23b level in haemoculture was evaluated by RT-qPCR. Results miR-23b levels increased in premature and full-term newborns in early onset sepsis (p < 0.001 and p < 0.005 respectively), but lowered in late onset sepsis in full-term neonates (p < 0.05) compared to the respective negative controls. miR-23b levels also increased in late sepsis in the negative versus early sepsis negative controls (p < 0.05). miR-23b levels significantly lowered in the newborns who died from both sepsis types (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.05 respectively). In early sepsis, miR-23b and death strongly and negatively correlated (correlation coefficient = − 0.96, p = 0.0019). In late sepsis, miRNA-23b and number of survivors (correlation coefficient = 0.70, p = 0.506) positively correlated. Conclusions Lowering miR-23b levels is an important factor that favours sepsis development, which would confirm their vital protective role, and strongly suggest that they act as a good marker in molecular diagnosis and patient monitoring.

miRNomic Signature in Very Low Birth-Weight Neonates Discriminates Late-Onset Gram-Positive Sepsis from Controls

“…We found an under-expression of miR-23b coinciding to Fatmi et al [38], who reported increased levels of miR-23b in EOS, but decreased levels in LOS. Unlike Wang et al [19], who reported miR-15a over-expression in term neonates with LOS, we found an underexpression.…”

“…miR-23 is an important regulator of the innate immune response and several inflammatory processes by targeting metalloproteinase 10 and mediating in the development of myocardial dysfunction [37]. Both have been previously described in full-term neonates with sepsis as potential clinical biomarkers that reflect the disease; nevertheless, they have not been evaluated in VLBW infants [19,38].…”

Downregulation of miR‑1184 serves as a diagnostic biomarker in neonatal sepsis and regulates LPS‑induced inflammatory response by inhibiting IL‑16 in monocytes

“…For instance, a previous study reported differentially expressed plasma soluble CD14 subtypes between EOS and LOS, and emphasized the importance to notice differences when treating EOS and LOS ( 36 ). Furthermore, miR-23b expression, which may serve as a good marker, was upregulated in EOS but downregulated in LOS, and its expression was altered during different neonatal periods ( 37 ). In the present study, only 6 cases of EOS were included in the NS group, which was not sufficient to distinguish EOS from LOS for analysis.…”

miR-141 is negatively correlated with TLR4 in neonatal sepsis and regulates LPS-induced inflammatory responses in monocytes

“…Accumulated studies have demonstrated that aberrantly expressed miRNAs in human diseases have important clinical significance in diagnosis ( 2224 ). For example, circulating aberrantly expressed miR-132, miR-146a, miR-155, and miR-223 in septic neonates were documented to be related with immune-related genes, and might be candidate biomarkers for neonatal sepsis diagnosis ( 25 ).…”