AUTHOR=Wang Bo , Wang Li-nong , Cheng Fang-fang , Lv Hai-tao , Sun Ling , Wei Dong-kai , Pu Yu , Wu Jie , Hou Yuan-yuan , Wen Bin , Xu Xia-ping , Yan Wen-hua TITLE=MiR-222-3p in Platelets Serves as a Distinguishing Marker for Early Recognition of Kawasaki Disease JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics VOLUME=7 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2019.00237 DOI=10.3389/fped.2019.00237 ISSN=2296-2360 ABSTRACT=

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute vasculitis, which leads to 20% of sufferers developing coronary artery aneurysm in children if not appropriately treated. Therefore, the early diagnosis of KD is essential for alleviating the risk of developing heart disease. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a large class of small non-coding RNAs which post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression and have been shown to play critical roles in numerous biological processes and diseases. In this study, we used high-throughput miRNA sequencing and found dozens of miRNAs are highly expressed in platelets. By comparing the miRNA expression profile of platelets of acute KD patients and other febrile patients, miR-222-3p is validated to be significantly upregulated in platelets of acute KD patients. Furthermore, KEGG pathway analysis shows that targets of miR-222-3p are enriched in immune-related signaling pathways. Our study uncovers the potential of miR-222-3p in platelets as biomarker for early diagnosis of Kawasaki disease.