title: Differential expression of plasma miR-146a in sepsis patients compared with non-sepsis-SIRS patients.
abstract: Sepsis is a subtype of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), which is characterized by infection. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs), including miR-150, miR-146a and miR-223, are potential biomarkers of sepsis. In this study, we demonstrated that measuring the relative expression of miR-146a/U6 in plasma, using the 2-ΔΔCtmethod, provides a method for differentiating between sepsis and non-sepsis-SIRS. We observed a significant increase in miR-146a expression in the initial cohort of 6 non-sepsis-SIRS patients compared to the 4 sepsis patients (P=0.01) and in the second cohort of 8 non-sepsis-SIRS patients compared to the 10 sepsis patients (P=0.027). Additionally, we identified that sodium citrate and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) K2may be used as anticoagulant reagents. Generation of a standard curve is not necessary in these diagnostic tests, unless the standard of normalization is carefully selected. Thus we provide more detailed guidance for the clinical use of circulating miRNA biomarkers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510006; ; Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515;
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hua-Cheng
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cha
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Huan-DU
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Yu
keywords: diagnosis; miR-146a; sepsis