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Int J Med Sci 2016; 13(1):77-84. doi:10.7150/ijms.13301 This issue Cite

Research Paper

Identification of microRNAs in Throat Swab as the Biomarkers for Diagnosis of Influenza

Fang Peng^{1, 2*}, Jianan He^2*, Jacky Fong Chuen Loo^3*, Jingyu Yao⁴, Lei Shi², Chunxiao Liu², Chunzhong Zhao², Weidong Xie⁵, Yonghong Shao⁶, Siu Kai Kong^3✉, Dayong Gu^{1, 2✉}

1. Department of Health Inspection and Quarantine, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
2. Shenzhen Entry-exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Shenzhen, China
3. Biochemistry Programme, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
4. Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China
5. Shenzhen Key Lab of Health Science and Technology, Division of Life Sciences & Health, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, China
6. College of Optoelectronics Engineering, Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems, Ministry of Education and Guangdong Province, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Sensor Technology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
* These authors contributed equally to this work.

✉ Corresponding authors: Siu Kai Kong and Dayong Gu, Siu Kai Kong: Biochemistry Programme, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 609, Mong Man Wai Building, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China; Tel: +852-3943-6799; Fax: +852-2603-5123; E-mail: skkongedu.hk or Dayong Gu: Institute of Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen International Travel Health Care Center, Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Shenzhen 518055, China; Tel: +86-755-83391344; Fax: +86-755-83391344; E-mail: wanhoodcom. More

Abstract

Background: Influenza is a serious worldwide disease that captures global attention in the past few years after outbreaks. The recent discoveries of microRNA (miRNA) and its unique expression profile in influenza patients have offered a new method for early influenza diagnosis. The aim of this study was to examine the utility of miRNAs for the diagnosis of influenza.

Methods: Thirteen selected miRNAs were investigated with the hosts' throat swabs (25 H1N1, 20 H3N2, 20 influenza B and 21 healthy controls) by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) using U6 snRNA as endogenous control for normalization, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve/Area under curve (AUC) for analysis.

Results: miR-29a-3p, miR-30c-5p, miR-34c-3p and miR-181a-5p are useful biomarkers for influenza A detection; and miR-30c-5p, miR-34b-5p, miR-205-5p and miR-449b-5p for influenza B detection. Also, use of both miR-30c-5p and miR-34c-3p (AUC=0.879); and miR-30c-5p and miR-449b-5p (AUC=0.901) are better than using one miRNA to confirm influenza A and influenza B infection, respectively.

Conclusions: Given its simplicity, non-invasiveness and specificity, we found that the throat swab-derived miRNAs miR-29a-3p, miR-30c-5p, miR-34b-5p, miR-34c-3p, miR-181a-5p, miR-205-5p and miR-449b-5p are a useful tool for influenza diagnosis on influenza A and B.

Keywords: miRNA, RT-qPCR, influenza, throat swab, biomarkers.

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