title: Altered serum microRNAs as biomarkers for the early diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis infection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is a highly lethal infectious disease and early diagnosis of TB is critical for the control of disease progression. The objective of this study was to profile a panel of serum microRNAs (miRNAs) as potential biomarkers for the early diagnosis of pulmonary TB infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using TaqMan Low-Density Array (TLDA) analysis followed by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) validation, expression levels of miRNAs in serum samples from 30 patients with active tuberculosis and 60 patients with Bordetella pertussis (BP), varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and enterovirus (EV) were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Low-Density Array data showed that 97 miRNAs were differentially expressed in pulmonary TB patient sera compared with healthy controls (90 up-regulated and 7 down-regulated). Following qRT-PCR confirmation and receiver operational curve (ROC) analysis, three miRNAs (miR-361-5p, miR-889 and miR-576-3p) were shown to distinguish TB infected patients from healthy controls and other microbial infections with moderate sensitivity and specificity (area under curve (AUC) value range, 0.711-0.848). Multiple logistic regression analysis of a combination of these three miRNAs showed an enhanced ability to discriminate between these two groups with an AUC value of 0.863.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that altered levels of serum miRNAs have great potential to serve as non-invasive biomarkers for early detection of pulmonary TB infection.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, 2 Si Pai Lou, Nanjing 210096, China.
authors.forename: Yuhua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Lunbiao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Yiyue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Zhiyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Kangchen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Xiling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Yunfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.forename: Minghao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zuhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs