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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Tuberc
Sec. Diagnosis of Tuberculosis
Volume 2 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/ftubr.2024.1441258

Serum-Derived Host miR-423-5p and miR-378a-3p as Molecular Markers for Severe Tuberculosis: A Promising prognostic tool for survival

Provisionally accepted
Joaquin Hurtado Joaquin Hurtado 1Nicolas Nin Nicolas Nin 2F. Javier Hurtado F. Javier Hurtado 2,3Juan Pablo Tosar Juan Pablo Tosar 1Carlos Robello Carlos Robello 4,5Gonzalo Greif Gonzalo Greif 5*
  • 1 Pasteur Institute of Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
  • 2 Hospital Español Dr. Juan José Crottogini, Montevideo, Uruguay
  • 3 Departamento de Fisiopatologia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
  • 4 Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
  • 5 Laboratorio de Interacciones Hospedero-Patógeno, Pasteur Institute of Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of infectious disease-related mortality.Annually, 10 million people contract TB, resulting in 1.5 million deaths, despite being a preventable and curable disease. Severe TB cases necessitate Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission, with mortality rates ranging from 15.5% to 65.9%. Recent research highlights the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in infectious disease diagnosis, with studies reporting distinct miRNA profiles in active pulmonary TB and sputum samples. This study aims to identify miRNAs as potential prognostic biomarkers for severe TB in ICU patients.Total RNA was extracted from the serum of ICU TB patients and controls. miRNA libraries were prepared and high throughput sequenced using an Illumina-sequencer. Differential miRNA abundance between patients and controls was analyzed with sRNAtoolbox, and DESeq2 was used for comparisons.Results demonstrated three differentially abundant miRNAs in severe TB patients' serum, validated by RT-qPCR. Stratifying patients by outcome revealed a significant difference in the ratio between two miRNAs: hsa-miR-378a-3p and hsa-miR-423-5p. The analysis showed that a miRNA-423-5p/miRNA-378a-3p ratio less than 27 is associated with a poor prognosis, highlighting its potential as a prognostic indicator of disease severity.These findings are promising and warrant validation, while assessing these biomarkers in non-severe TB settings could further help identify more aggressive forms of the disease.In conclusion, this study explores the potential of circulating miRNAs as prognostic tools for severe TB cases in the ICU, offering a promising avenue for improving clinical decision-making and patient outcomes. Further validation and exploration in diverse TB contexts are essential for comprehensive understanding and application.

    Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Tuberculosis, critical care medicine, smallRNA, miRNA

    Received: 30 May 2024; Accepted: 29 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hurtado, Nin, Hurtado, Tosar, Robello and Greif. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gonzalo Greif, Laboratorio de Interacciones Hospedero-Patógeno, Pasteur Institute of Montevideo, Montevideo, 11400, Uruguay

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.