Clinical value of microRNA-378a-3p in sepsis and its role in sepsis-induced inflammation and cardiac dysfunction

This study explored the clinical meaning of miR-378a-3p in sepsis and its influence on sepsis-induced inflammation and cardiac dysfunction. Serum levels of miR-378a-3p were detected by quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate its diagnostic value. The effects of miR-378a-3p on inflammation and cardiac function were evaluated by monitoring left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), left ventricular and end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), maximum rate of change in left ventricular pressure (± dp/dt(max)) and detecting the levels of troponin I (cTnI), creatine kinase isoenzyme MB (CK-MB), tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) via enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serum miR-378a-3p was increased in sepsis patients and rat model. ROC curve indicated that miR-378a-3p might have diagnostic significance for sepsis miR-378a-3p antagomir improved the cardiac function by upregulating the levels of LVSP and ± dp/dt(max), and decreasing the levels of LVEDP, cTnI and CK-MB in rat model. miR-378a-3p antagomir also significantly alleviated the inflammatory responseby down-regulating the expression of TNF-a, IL-6, and IL-1β. Besides, logistics regression analysis illustrated that miR-378a-3p was an independent influencing factor for the onset of cardiac dysfunction in sepsis. miR-378a-3p has the potential as a diagnostic biomarker for sepsis and decreasing the level of miR-378a-3p had the ability to ameliorate cardiac dysfunction and inflammatory response caused by sepsis.