Correlation Of MiRNA-146a In Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease And Its Relationship With Inflammation Response

Objective:To investigate the expression characteristics of miRNA-146a in the whole blood of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)and healthy controls(HCs);to explore the correlation between the expression of miRNA-146a and the inflammatory cytokine IL-6,IL-8,and TNF-α in patients with COPD;to explore the related factors affecting the expression of miRNA-146a in patients with COPD.Methods:50 patients with COPD and 50 matched HCs were recruited and peripheral whole blood and serum of patients with AECOPD,stable COPD,and HCs was collected.Their lung function was measured,St.George’s Respiratory Questionnaire(SGRQ)of patients with COPD were collected and 6-min walking test was carried out.The concentration of miRNA-146a in whole blood was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR,and the concentrations of IL-6,IL-8 and TNF-α in serum were detected by ELISA.Results:The expression of miRNA-146a was decreased in the HCs,stable COPD,and AECOPD.Subgroup analysis found that in COPD patients with GOLD grade Ⅰ-Ⅲ,the expression level of miRNA-146a in the AECOPD was significantly lower than that in the stage COPD.For the GOLD grade Ⅳ,there was no significant difference in its expression between the two groups.The expression of inflammatory factors IL-6,IL-8 and TNF-α in the COPD with acute exacerbation group was higher than that in the COPD with stable stage group.Subgroup analysis found that the higher the GOLD grade was,the higher the expression level of inflammatory factors was in COPD patients.In patients with COPD,the expression of miRNA-146a was negatively correlated with the expression of inflammatory factors IL-6,IL-8 and TNF-α,positively correlated with FEV1%pred,and negatively correlated with the disease severity;in COPD patients,the expression of miRNA-146a had no obvious correlation with smoking.According to the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and the area under the curve(AUC),miRNA-146a could distinguish the COPD with acute exacerbation group,the COPD with stable stage group and the healthy control group.Conclusion:The expression level of miRNA-146a is negatively correlated with inflammatory factors and disease severity,which can be used as a biomarker to disease severity,with a good clinical application prospects.