Plasma miR-3192-5p is a Potential biomarker associated with spinal tuberculosis patients

Abstract

Background. Spinal tuberculosis (STB) accounts for approximately 50% of all bone and joint tuberculosis cases, and the understanding of the molecular mechanism of spinal tuberculosis remains limited. Accurate biomarkers are needed to diagnose spinal tuberculosis, which will help manage the incidence of spinal tuberculosis. The gold standard for the diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis requires biopsies of the lesions, which often cause the lesions to spread or delay the timing of anti-tuberculosis therapy. Therefore, there is a pressing need to develop noninvasive diagnostic tools. As a candidate diagnostic marker of spinal tuberculosis, circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have the characteristics of easy detection, good stability, and strong tissue specificity. Methods. The gene expression database was utilized to compare the expression of miRNAs between patients diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis and undiagnosed patients, and the interaction between miRNAs and target genes was analysed to explain their expression and function. A protein‒protein interaction (PPI) network was further constructed. In bioinformatics analysis, RT‒qPCR was used to verify the expression of miRNAs in the BMSC cell line. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed by using plasma miRNAs from 12 patients with spinal tuberculosis and 12 healthy controls, and its clinical diagnostic value was evaluated. Results. We identified six novel miRNAs as potential candidate diagnostic biomarkers for patients with spinal tuberculosis. In addition, the predicted target genes provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying spinal tuberculosis. Conclusion. There was a stable and significant difference in the expression of miR-3192-5p between STB and healthy controls. Our findings may provide reliable candidate biomarkers for the precise diagnosis and individualized treatment of STB and the development of further clinical applications in STB.