title: MicroRNA expression aberration associated with bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants: a preliminary study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Because environmental insults and genetic factors account for the variance in the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in very low birth weight (VLBW, birth weight < 1,500 g) preterm infants, the search for BPD biomarkers has begun to focus on the regulators of non-coding RNA such as microRNAs (miRNAs). Therefore, this study aimed to identify potential miRNAs involved in the pathogenesis of BPD in VLBW preterm infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control study (15 subjects with BPD and 15 sex-matched control subjects without BPD) was conducted to investigate the expression profiles of 365 miRNAs in the peripheral blood of VLBW preterm infants at 36 weeks post-menstrual age (called the older-age set). The expression levels of identified miRNAs were further evaluated in a subsample of blood collected during the first 2 weeks post-natal age (called the younger-age set). Possible biological functions and pathways implicated in the target genes regulated by the miRNAs were explored using database predictions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A 4-miRNA signature (miR-152, miR-30a-3p, miR-133b, and miR-7) with aberrant expression levels at 36 weeks, derived from a supervised classification with internal cross-validation, discriminated the subjects with BPD from those without BPD with an accuracy of 0.91. The discriminative accuracy of the 4 miRNAs was supported by random permutations of either the disease status or the number of miRNAs selected (both P < .001). A down-regulation change of miR-152 and miR-30a-3p expression levels and an up-regulation change of miR-133b and miR-7 expression levels were found in the older-age set, compared to the younger-age set.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to identify blood-based miRNAs associated with BPD. The findings provide information regarding the roles of these biomarkers in the development of BPD in VLBW preterm infants.
authors.affiliation: School and Graduate Institute of Physical Therapy, National Taiwan University Hospital College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yen-Tzu
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Wei J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wu-Shiun
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.forename: Po-Nien
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Tsao
authors.forename: Sung-Liang
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Chi-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Wen-Chung
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Suh-Fang
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Jeng
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001997:Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000097:blood*; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight / Q000097:blood; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: biomarkers; bronchopulmonary dysplasia; expression profiling; microRNA; peripheral blood