Identification of microRNAs in Throat Swab as the Biomarkers for Diagnosis of Influenza

• DOI: 10.7150/ijms.13301
• Publication Date: 2016-01-29T01:05:48Z
• Authors: Fang Peng; Jianan He; Jacky Fong Chuen Loo; Jingyu Yao; Lei Shi; Chunxiao Liu; Chunzhong Zhao; Weidong Xie; Yonghong Shao; Siu Kai Kong; Dayong Gu
• Keywords: Adult; Male; 0301 basic medicine; Gene Expression Profiling; Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; MicroRNAs; 03 medical and health sciences; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype; Influenza, Human; Biomarkers, Tumor; Humans; Pharynx; Female; Research Paper

Influenza is a serious worldwide disease that captures global attention in the past few years after outbreaks. The recent discoveries of microRNA (miRNA) and its unique expression profile in influenza patients have offered a new method for early influenza diagnosis. The aim of this study was to examine the utility of miRNAs for the diagnosis of influenza.Thirteen selected miRNAs were investigated with the hosts' throat swabs (25 H1N1, 20 H3N2, 20 influenza B and 21 healthy controls) by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) using U6 snRNA as endogenous control for normalization, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve/Area under curve (AUC) for analysis.miR-29a-3p, miR-30c-5p, miR-34c-3p and miR-181a-5p are useful biomarkers for influenza A detection; and miR-30c-5p, miR-34b-5p, miR-205-5p and miR-449b-5p for influenza B detection. Also, use of both miR-30c-5p and miR-34c-3p (AUC=0.879); and miR-30c-5p and miR-449b-5p (AUC=0.901) are better than using one miRNA to confirm influenza A and influenza B infection, respectively.Given its simplicity, non-invasiveness and specificity, we found that the throat swab-derived miRNAs miR-29a-3p, miR-30c-5p, miR-34b-5p, miR-34c-3p, miR-181a-5p, miR-205-5p and miR-449b-5p are a useful tool for influenza diagnosis on influenza A and B.