Plasma miR-125a and miR-125b in sepsis: Correlation with disease risk, inflammation, severity, and prognosis

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to explore the predictive value of microRNA (miR)-125a and miR-125b for sepsis risk, and their correlations with inflammation, disease severity, and 28-day mortality in sepsis patients.

Methods: Totally, 150 sepsis patients and 150 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. Plasma samples were separated from blood samples obtained from sepsis patients and HCs to detect miR-125a and miR-125b expressions by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Besides, the 28-day mortality of sepsis patients was assessed. MiR-125a and miR-125b expressions were elevated in sepsis patients compared with HCs, and further receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis displayed that miR-125a (area under the curve (AUC): 0.749, 95% CI: 0.695-0.803) and miR-125b (AUC: 0.839, 95% CI: 0.795-0.882) could predict sepsis risk. As for inflammation, no correlation of miR-125a with C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-17, and IL-23 was observed in sepsis patients, while miR-125b was positively associated with CRP, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-17, and IL-23. Regarding disease severity, miR-125a and miR-125b were positively correlated with acute physiology and chronic health care evaluation II and sequential organ failure assessment score in sepsis patients. Besides, ROC curve analysis exhibited that miR-125a failed to predict 28-day mortality risk (AUC: 0.588, 95% CI: 0.491-0.685) in sepsis patients, while miR-125b had a potential value in predicting elevated 28-day mortality risk (AUC: 0.699, 95% CI: 0.603-0.795).

Conclusion: Both miR-125a and miR-125b predict sepsis risk, while only miR-125b exhibits the potency for disease management and prognosis prediction in sepsis patients.

Keywords: disease severity; miR-125a; miR-125b; prognosis; sepsis.

Figure 1

The value of miR‐125a and miR‐125b for predicting sepsis risk. The comparison of miR‐125a relative expression between sepsis patients and HCs (A). The comparison of miR‐125b relative expression between sepsis patients and HCs (B). The ability of miR‐125a/b in differentiating sepsis patients from HCs (C). Comparisons of miR‐125a and miR‐125b relative expressions between sepsis patients and HCs were determined by Wilcoxon rank sum test. P < .05 was considered significant. The performance of miR‐125a and miR‐125b for predicting sepsis risk was assessed by ROC curve and AUC with 95% CI. AUC, area under the curve; CI, confidence interval; HCs, healthy controls; miR‐125a, microRNA‐125a; miR‐125b, microRNA‐125b; ROC, receiver operating characteristic

Figure 2

Positive correlation of miR‐125a relative expression with miR‐125b relative expression in sepsis patients. The association of miR‐125a relative expression with miR‐125b relative expression was analyzed by the Spearman's rank correlation test. P < .05 was considered significant. MiR‐125a, microRNA‐125a; miR‐125b, microRNA‐125b

Figure 3

Positive correlation of miR‐125a and miR‐125b relative expressions with disease severity in sepsis patients. The correlation of miR‐125a relative expression with APACHE II score (A) and SOFA score (B) in sepsis patients. And the association of miR‐125b relative expression with APACHE II score (C) and SOFA score (D) in sepsis patients. The associations of miR‐125a and miR‐125b relative expressions with APACHE II and SOFA scores in sepsis patients were analyzed by the Spearman's rank correlation test. P < .05 was considered significant. APACHE II, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II; MiR‐125a, microRNA‐125a; miR‐125b, microRNA‐125b; SOFA, sequential organ failure assessment

Figure 4

Association of miR‐125a and miR‐125b relative expressions with inflammation in sepsis patients. The correlation of miR‐125a relative expression with CRP (A), TNF‐α (B), IL‐6 (C), IL‐17 (D) and IL‐23 (E) in sepsis patients. And the correlation of miR‐125b relative expression with CRP (F), TNF‐α (G), IL‐6 (H), IL‐17 (I), and IL‐23 (J) in sepsis patients. The correlations of miR‐125a and miR‐125b relative expressions with CRP, TNF‐α, IL‐6, IL‐17, and IL‐23 were evaluated by the Spearman's rank correlation test. P < .05 was considered significant. CRP, C‐reactive protein; IL‐17, interleukin‐17; IL‐23, interleukin‐23; IL‐6, interleukin‐6; MiR‐125a, microRNA‐125a; miR‐125b, microRNA‐125b; TNF‐α, tumor necrosis factor‐α

Figure 5

The value of miR‐125a and miR‐125b for predicting 28‐day mortality risk in sepsis patients. The comparison of miR‐125a relative expression between survivors and deaths in sepsis patients (A). And the comparison of miR‐125b relative expression between survivors and deaths in sepsis patients (B). Besides, the ability of miR‐125a, miR‐125b, CRP, APACHE II score, and SOFA score in predicting 28‐day mortality risk in sepsis patients (C). The comparisons of miR‐125a and miR‐125b relative expressions between survivors and deaths in sepsis patients were performed by Wilcoxon rank sum test. P < .05 was considered significant. And the performances of miR‐125a, miR‐125b, CRP, APACHE II score, and SOFA score for predicting 28‐day mortality risk in sepsis patients were assessed by ROC curve and AUC with 95% CI. APACHE II, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation; AUC, area under the curve; CI, confidence interval; CRP, C‐reactive protein; MiR‐125a, microRNA‐125a; miR‐125b, microRNA‐125b; ROC, receiver operating characteristic; SOFA, sequential organ failure assessment