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. 2024 May 25;51(1):689.
doi: 10.1007/s11033-024-09630-2.

Alternations in miR-155 and miR-200 serum levels can serve as biomarkers for COVID-19 in the post-mass vaccination era

Aliaa Aboulela  1 , Mona Taha  1 , Abeer Ghazal  1 , Ayman Baess  2 , Amel Elsheredy  3
Affiliations

Alternations in miR-155 and miR-200 serum levels can serve as biomarkers for COVID-19 in the post-mass vaccination era

Aliaa Aboulela et al. Mol Biol Rep. .

Abstract

Background: Mass vaccination and natural immunity reduced the severity of COVID-19 cases. SARS-CoV-2 ongoing genome variations imply the use of confirmatory serologic biomarkers besides PCR for reliable diagnosis. MicroRNA molecules are intrinsic components of the innate immune system. The expression of miR155-5p and miR200c-3p was previously correlated with SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. This case-control study was conducted during the third peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt and aimed to calculate the accuracy of miR155-5p and miR200c-3p as biomarkers for COVID-19.

Methods and results: Thirty out of 400 COVID-19 patients at a main University hospital in Alexandria were included in the study along with 20 age-matched healthy controls. Plasma samples were collected for total and differential CBC. Relative quantitation of miR155-5p and miR200c-3p expression from WBCs was done by RT-qPCR. The expression of miR155-5p and miR200c-3p was positively correlated and was significantly downregulated in COVID-19 patients compared to the healthy control group (p ˂ 0.005). Both miR155-5p and miR200c-3p were of 76% and 74% accuracy as diagnostic biomarkers of COVID-19, respectively. Regarding the differentiation between mild and moderate cases, their accuracy was 80% and 70%, respectively.

Conclusions: miR155-5p and miR200c-3p expression can be used to confirm the diagnosis of COVID-19 and discriminate between mild and moderate cases, with a moderate degree of accuracy.

Keywords: COVID-19; Immune response; SARS-CoV-2 post mass-vaccination; miR155-5p; miR200c-3p; miRNA biomarkers.

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