title: Interleukin-18 and miR-130a in severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Thrombocytopenia is one of the most common laboratory abnormalities encountered in patients with severe sepsis. It has been reported that thrombocytopenia is linked to mortality in patients with severe sepsis. However, the mechanism of thrombocytopenia in sepsis is unknown. We hypothesized that inflammatory cytokines and microRNAs (miRNAs) are not only involved in the pathogenesis of sepsis, but also are correlated with thrombocytopenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eligible patients with severe sepsis were prospectively recruited and treated at our hospital between June 2012 and May 2014. The miRNA and protein expression of interleukin (IL)-18 and IL-27 were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. The expression of miR-130a and miR-150 was detected by TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty eligible patients were divided into two groups: 28 severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia and 32 severe sepsis patients without thrombocytopenia. The results demonstrated that the miRNA expression and plasma concentration of IL-18 in severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia were higher than those in severe sepsis patients without thrombocytopenia (P=0.015 and P=0.034, respectively), and miR-130a expression was significantly lower in severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia (P<0.003).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data demonstrate that severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia have increased plasma and miRNA expression levels of IL-18 and decreased expression of miR-130a, suggesting that IL-18 and miR-130a might be involved in the pathophysiological process of severe sepsis with thrombocytopenia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Lymphoma and Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin, People's Republic of China; Department of Intensive Care Unit and Key Lab for Critical Care Medicine of the Ministry of Health, Emergency Medicine Research Institute, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yao-Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care Unit and Key Lab for Critical Care Medicine of the Ministry of Health, Emergency Medicine Research Institute, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care Unit and Key Lab for Critical Care Medicine of the Ministry of Health, Emergency Medicine Research Institute, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hong-Mei
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care Unit and Key Lab for Critical Care Medicine of the Ministry of Health, Emergency Medicine Research Institute, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ying-Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care Unit and Key Lab for Critical Care Medicine of the Ministry of Health, Emergency Medicine Research Institute, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care Unit and Key Lab for Critical Care Medicine of the Ministry of Health, Emergency Medicine Research Institute, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hong-Jie
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care Unit and Key Lab for Critical Care Medicine of the Ministry of Health, Emergency Medicine Research Institute, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Intensive Care Unit and Key Lab for Critical Care Medicine of the Ministry of Health, Emergency Medicine Research Institute, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yong-Qiang
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: IL-18; IL-27; miR-130a; miR-150; pathophysiological process; severe sepsis; thrombocytopenia