ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The identification of
miRNAs as well as characterization of
miRNA-
mRNA interactions in SARS-CoV-2 infection is important to understand their
role in
disease pathogenesis. Therefore the aim of the present study was to
measure the expression levels of hsa-mir-18a-5p in the sera of severe COVID-19 Egyptian
patients admitted to ICU to investigate its
roles in the pathogenesis and severity of COVID-19
disease.
METHODS:
A total of 180 unvaccinated severe COVID-19
patients were enrolled in our study. Besides the routine
laboratory work, the expression level of hsa-mir-18a-5p was done using
reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RTqPCR)
technique. Also, target
genes of hsa-mir-18a-5p were explored by using online
bioinformatics databases.
RESULTS:
The expression level of hsa-mir-18a-5p decreased in nonsurvival severe COVID-19
patients (0.38 ± 0.26) when compared to the
survival ones (0.84 ± 0.23). While as a prognostic tool for the prediction of bad
prognosis and
mortality among severe COVID-19
patients, our results showed that the
serum hsa-mir-18a-5p expression level is a good sensitive and specific marker. By using
bioinformatics tools, our results revealed that the decreased hsa-mir-18a-5p expression level may have a crucial
role in COVID-19 pathogenesis and severity through decreased immunological responses (interpreted as
lymphopenia) or increased
inflammation (interpreted as increased
serum levels of
IL-6, CRP, LDH).
CONCLUSION:
Taken together, the decreased expression level of hsa-mir-18a-5p could be a bad prognostic marker and
therapeutic overexpression of hsa-mir-18a-5p could be a novel approach in the
treatment of COVID-19
disease.
