Danhong Liu,* Fanda Liao,* Hongbing Wang

Department of Pediatrics, Suizhou Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Suizhou, Hubei, 441300, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Hongbing Wang, Department of Pediatrics, Suizhou Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, No. 60 Long Men Street, Zengdu District, Suizhou, Hubei, 441300, People’s Republic of China, Email wanghongbingwhb@21cn.com

Objective: To investigate the relationship between serum microRNA (miR)-130a-3p, miR-326 and airway inflammation in children suffering from bronchial asthma.
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 122 children suffering from bronchial asthma. According to the disease progression, 122 cases were divided into a remission group of 73 cases and an attack group of 49 cases. Total 50 healthy children received physical examinations during the same period were taken as the control group. These cases were graded as a well-controlled group of 91 cases and a poorly controlled group of 31 cases following 8 weeks of symptomatic treatment. The interaction was analyzed using a multiplication model (by calculating the odds ratio and other indicators of the occurrence of outcomes under different combinations of factor exposures). ROC curve was used to analyze the predictive value. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors.
Results: Serum miR-130a-3p and miR-326 levels were negatively correlated with serum IL-4, TGF-β 1 and CKLF-1 levels (all P < 0.001), but positively correlated with serum IL-10 levels (r = 0.673 and 0.768; both P < 0.001). The poorly controlled group had much lower levels of serum miR-130a-3p and miR-326 than the well-controlled group (t = 13.637 and 8.482; both P < 0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of the combination of the two factors in predicting poor prognosis were 81.25% and 85.00%, which had certain clinical value. The elevation of serum levels of IL-4, TGF-β 1 and CKLF-1 increased the risk of asthma and poor prognosis, but IL-10, miR-130a-3p and miR-326 were protective factors (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The decreased levels of serum miR-130a-3p and miR-326 were related to airway inflammation in children with bronchial asthma. The interaction between the two miRNAs may increase the risk of poor prognosis in children. Detection of the two miRNAs can provide important reference for clinicians to judge the prognosis of children.

Keywords: airway inflammation, bronchial asthma, miR-130a-3p, miR-326, prognosis