title: Sputum and serum microRNA-144 levels in patients with tuberculosis before and after treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure the expression levels of sputum and serum microRNA-144 (miR-144) before and after the treatment of patients with tuberculosis (TB).
  
  
  METHODS
  Details of the cases of a total of 124 TB patients were collected at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University between April 2014 and April 2015. Fifty-three of these patients had sputum positive for bacteria and a cavity on imaging (group A), 20 patients had sputum negative for bacteria and a cavity on imaging (group B), and 51 patients had sputum negative for bacteria and no cavity on imaging (group C). One hundred seventeen healthy people who attended the hospital for a physical examination were recruited as controls. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the levels of sputum and serum miR-144 before anti-TB treatment and at 1 month after treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Before treatment, sputum and serum miR-144 expression levels in the TB patients were both higher than those of the controls (both p<0.05). After treatment, sputum and serum miR-144 levels in the TB patients were significantly lower than those measured before treatment (both p<0.05). The levels of sputum and serum miR-144 in the improved TB patients decreased significantly after treatment compared to those measured before treatment (both p<0.001). Significant differences were found in sputum and serum miR-144 levels in the TB patients, with or without improvement, compared with the healthy controls (all p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sputum and serum miR-144 levels were significantly upregulated in the TB patients, but were found to decrease significantly after anti-TB treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiration, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Wenhua West Road, No. 107, Jinan 250012, Shandong, China; Internal Medicine-Tuberculosis, Shandong Chest Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiration, Shandong Chest Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine-Tuberculosis, Yantai City Hospital for Infectious Disease, Yantai, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Gang
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine-Tuberculosis, Shandong Chest Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiration, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Wenhua West Road, No. 107, Jinan 250012, Shandong, China. Electronic address: quyiqing1112@163.com.
authors.forename: Yi-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiration, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Wenhua West Road, No. 107, Jinan 250012, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Lai
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006761:Hospitals; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D013183:Sputum / Q000382:microbiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D015854:Up-Regulation; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C554293:MIRN144 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: Cavity; Serum; Sputum; Treatment; Tuberculosis; miR-144