title: Correlation between Serum Osteopontin and miR-181a Levels in Allergic Rhinitis Children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Osteopontin (OPN) has been proved to be associated with allergic airway inflammation. However, the roles of OPN and its regulation in childhood allergic rhinitis (AR) are poorly understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to evaluate the expression of OPN and miR-181a in children with AR and their association with Th1/Th2 immune response.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children who suffered from AR were included along with control subjects. Serum was collected to examine the level of OPN and Th1/Th2 cytokines by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the level of miR-181a by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with AR had significantly higher serum levels of OPN and lower serum levels of miR-181a than healthy controls. Furthermore, serum levels of OPN were positively correlated with Th2 cytokine and negatively correlated with Th1 cytokine. On the contrary, miR-181a level had a negative correlation with IL-4/IL-5 and positive correlation with IFN-γ/IL-12. More importantly, there was also significant negative correlation between OPN and miR-181a.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The OPN protein and miR-181a levels may serve as predictors of disease severity in childhood AR and appear to be promising targets for modulating AR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical College, No. 9 Jinsui Road, Guangzhou 510623, China.
authors.forename: Wenlong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical College, No. 9 Jinsui Road, Guangzhou 510623, China.
authors.forename: Qingxiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical College, No. 9 Jinsui Road, Guangzhou 510623, China.
authors.forename: Renzhong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000378:metabolism; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000378:metabolism; D015848:Interleukin-5 / Q000378:metabolism; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D053495:Osteopontin / Q000097:blood*; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic / Q000097:blood*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015848:Interleukin-5; C540193:MIrn181 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D053495:Osteopontin; D018664:Interleukin-12; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma