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. 2021 Sep;10(3):141-147.
doi: 10.22099/mbrc.2021.40555.1631.

MiR-200c-3p expression may be associated with worsening of the clinical course of patients with COVID-19

Ruan Pimenta  1 , Nayara I Viana  1 , Gabriel A Dos Santos  1 , Patrícia Candido  1 , Vanessa R Guimarães  1 , Poliana Romão  1 , Iran A Silva  1 , Juliana A de Camargo  1 , Diná M Hatanaka  2 , Paula G S Queiroz  2 , Alexandre Teruya  2 , Leandro Echenique  2 , Bruno A M P Besen  3 , Katia R M Leite  1 , Victor Srougi  1 , Miguel Srougi  1   2 , Sabrina T Reis  1   2
Affiliations

MiR-200c-3p expression may be associated with worsening of the clinical course of patients with COVID-19

Ruan Pimenta et al. Mol Biol Res Commun. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

COVID-19 represents a public health emergency, whose mechanism of which is not fully understood. It is speculated that microRNAs may play a crucial role in host cells after infection by SARS-CoV-2. Thus, our study aimed to analyze the expression of miR-200c-3p in saliva samples from patients with COVID-19. One handred eleven samples from patients with COVID-19 were divided into 4 groups. Group I: 39 patients negative for Covid-19; Group II: 37 positive and symptomatic patients, with no indication of hospitalization; Group III: 21 patients with respiratory disorders (hospitalized); Group IV: 14 patients with severe conditions (oxygen therapy). The expression levels of miR-200c-3p were determined using qPCR. We found greater expression of miR-200c-3p in patients in group IV (p<0.0001), and also verified that patients aged ≥42 years had a higher expression of this miR (p=0.013). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the expression of miR-200c-3p and systemic arterial hypertension are factors independently associated with patients in group IV (p<0.0001). Our results suggest that miR-200c-3p is a predictor of severity independent of COVID-19 risk factors, which could represent a way of screening patients affected by SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: Biomarkers; COVID-19; MicroRNA; SARs-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Expression levels of miR-200c-3p in the different stages of COVID-19. A) Differential expression of miR-200c-3p in groups I, II, III and IV. B) Expression in relation to the average age of both sexes of patients with COVID-19. C) Expression levels of miR-200c-3p in relation to genders. D) Expression of miR-200c-3p in relation to the average age considering only the female sex. E) Expression of miR-200c-3p in relation to the average age considering only the male sex. F) Expression of miR-200c-3p in groups I, II, III and IV considering only the female sex. G) Expression of miR-200c-3p in groups I, II, III and IV considering only the male sex
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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