Evidence for serum miR-15a and miR-16 levels as biomarkers that distinguish sepsis from systemic inflammatory response syndrome in human subjects

• Published in: Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine Vol. 50; no. 8; pp. 1423 - 1428
• Main Authors: Wang, Huijuan, Zhang, Pengjun, Chen, Weijun, Feng, Dan, Jia, Yanhong, Xie, Li-xin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Walter de Gruyter 01.08.2012; De Gruyter
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial sepsis; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - blood; Cross-Sectional Studies; diagnosis; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; General aspects; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Male; Medical sciences; MicroRNAs - blood; Middle Aged; miR-15a; miR-16; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; sepsis; Sepsis - blood; Sepsis - diagnosis; Sepsis - genetics; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome - blood; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome - diagnosis; Young Adult; Human; Biological marker; Biological indicator; Inflammation; miR-15a; Bacteremia; Infection; Medicine; Sepsis syndrome; miR-16; Systemic inflammatory response syndrome; Clinical biology; Bacteriosis; Serum; Diagnosis; sepsis
• DOI: 10.1515/cclm-2011-0826
• ISSN: 1434-6621; 1437-4331

: Serum microRNAs may be useful biomarkers for diagnosing human diseases. We investigated serum levels of miR-15a and miR-16 in patients with sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) without infection. : We enrolled 166 sepsis patients, 32 SIRS patients, and 24 normal controls. Serum miR-15a and miR-16 expression levels were determined by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assays (qRT-PCR). : Serum miR-15a (p<0.001) and miR-16 (p<0.05) were both significantly higher in sepsis patients compared with normal controls, and miR-15a (p<0.001) and miR-16 (p<0.01) levels in SIRS patients were also significantly higher than those in normal controls. Serum miR-15a and miR-16 levels were not correlated with white blood cell counts. Receiver operating characteristic curves showed that miR-15a had the highest area under the curve of 0.858 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.800–0.916] for the diagnosis of sepsis compared with C reactive protein and procalcitonin with areas under the curve of 0.572 (95% CI 0.479–0.665; p=0.198) and 0.605 (95% CI 0.443–0.767; p=0.168), respectively. When its cut-off point was set at 0.21, serum miR-15a had a sensitivity of 68.3% and a specificity of 94.4%. : Serum miR-15a and miR-16 can both distinguish sepsis/SIRS from normal controls. miR-15a may be a biomarker that distinguishes between sepsis and SIRS.