title: Quantification of the differential expression levels of microRNA-203 in different degrees of diabetic foot.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As a common and important complication of diabetes, foot ulcers are characterized by high incidence, poor prognosis and variation in the clinical presentation. The current methods for classification of the diabetic foot are many, but few of them are validated owing to the lack of specific and accurate laboratory index. Thus, the development of new bio-markers to assess and manage diabetic foot is of high importance.
  
  
  METHODS
  46 patients who had undergone wound repairing operation were included in this study and skin tissue samples around the ulcers were collected during the operation. In accordance with The Wound Score of Strauss, all subjects were divided into four groups, such as normal skins group, healthy wounds group, problem wounds group and futile wounds group, and respectively, there are 6, 4, 22, 14 individuals in each group. For each group, we assessed the expression profile of microRNAs (miRNAs) in each skin tissue sample by TaqMan probe-based qRT-PCR assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Skin-enriched microRNA-203 (miR-203) was readily detected in skin tissue samples, and, in contrast to normal skin tissue, samples from patient with diabetic foot ulcers significantly have a higher expression level in miR-203. Moreover, our study demonstrated the first time that expression profile of miR-203 was positively correlated with the severity of diabetic foot ulcers. Compared with other parameters in wound scoring systems for the assessment of severity of diabetic foot ulcers, the determination for miR-203 was more accurate and validated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrated that expression profile of miR-203 in diabetic foot had a positive correlation with the severity of diabetic foot ulcers, which indicated that miR-203 can be served as a new, accurate and validated bio-marker for evaluating the severity of diabetic foot ulcers in clinic. The significant finding of the study: Quantification of miR-203 in different degrees of diabetic foot. This study adds a new bio-marker for evaluation and management of diabetic foot.
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yingbin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jinming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shaohai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xusheng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University Guangzhou, Guangdong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Julin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D017719:Diabetic Foot / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C546703:MIRN203 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Foot Ulcer; bio-markers; diabetes; evaluation; miR-203; severity