Role of circulating microRNA-132 in allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis: A case-control study

• Published in: Immunobiology (1979) Vol. 226; no. 3; p. 152074
• Main Authors: Esawy, Marwa M., Baioumy, Shereen A., Ismail, Nagwan A., Shabana, Marwa A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier GmbH 01.05.2021
• Subjects: Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis; Aspergillosis, Allergic Bronchopulmonary - diagnosis; Aspergillosis, Allergic Bronchopulmonary - etiology; Biomarkers; Case-Control Studies; Circulating MicroRNA; Disease Susceptibility; Humans; IL-5; Liquid Biopsy; MicroRNAs - blood; MicroRNAs - genetics; miRNA-132; miRNA-21; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; IL; AF; miRNA-21; miRNA; IL-5; ABPA; Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis; miRNA-132; SAFS; ASA; Th2
• ISSN: 0171-2985; 1878-3279
• DOI: 10.1016/j.imbio.2021.152074

•miRNA-132 had significantly increased expression levels in SAFS and ABPA patients.•miRNA-132 had acceptable diagnostic performance criteria in ABPA detection.•miRNA-132 could be differentiate between ABPA and allergic asthma. Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is an allergic respiratory disease. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate the roles of miRNA-21 and miRNA132 as biomarkers in the diagnosis of ABPA. A total of 30 controls, 30 allergic asthmatic patients, 30 severe asthma with fungal sensitization (SAFS) patients, and 30 ABPA patients were included. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to quantify the level of miRNAs expression. The expression level of miRNA-21 was significantly higher in allergic asthmatic, SAFS, and ABPA patients in comparison with controls (p < 0.001). However, no significant difference was detected in the expression level of miRNA-21 among the different patient groups (p > 0.05). The ABPA patients had significantly higher levels of miRNA-132 expression compared to controls, allergic asthmatic patients, and SAFS patients (p < 0.001), but there was a non-significant difference between controls and allergic asthmatic patients (p = 0.09). At a cut-off of 1.52, the sensitivity of miRNA-132 expression was 93.3% and the specificity was 100% different ABPA from healthy controls. At a cut-off of 6.5, miRNA-132 expression was found to reliably differentiate between ABPA and SAFS, with a sensitivity of 86.7% and a specificity of 80%. In ABPA patients, miRNA-132 expression positively correlation with the levels of serum IL-5 (r = 0.91, p < 0.001). miRNA-132 has a role in ABPA detection and distinguishing ABPA from allergic asthma and SAFS. These preliminary data from case-control study need further studies to confirm its finding.