MiRNA investigation in patients with pandemic sARS-COV-2 infection

Objective: It is known that SARS-CoV-2 triggers the host immune response and accordingly causes symptoms. In particular, miRNAs that are effective in regulating gene expression and protein function play a role in viral diseases. Changes in miRNA (miR) expression may contribute to the pathogenesis of diseases by causing changes in the structure and functions of target proteins. The aim of our study was to compare the patients infected with SARS-COV-2 with the healthy control group and compare miR-19a-3p, miR19b-3p, miR-21, miR-26a-5p, miR-146a, miR-let-7b-3p, miR-155, miR-16, miR-590, miR-1307-3p. To determine the effect on the clinical correlation by measuring the serum levels of this miRNAs. Methods: Blood samples of 70 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 by PCR method and 30 control groups without any disease were included in the study. The patients were divided into three groups as mild, moderate and severe. SanPrep Column MicroRNA Mini-Prep kit (Bio Basic Inc., Toronto, Canada) was used for miRNA isolation. Extraction of cDNA from miRNA was performed with the commercial kit of the miRNA All-In-One cDNA Synthesis kit (Applied Biological Materials (ABM) Inc., Richmond, Canada). MiRNA level measurements were made with real time PCR kit (ABM Inc., Richmond, Canada). 2(–ΔΔCT) values were calculated using Livak's ΔΔCT method to calculate the relative expressions. Results: Serum expression levels of miR-1307-3p, miR-146, miR-26a-5p, miR-21, miR-19a-3p, miR19b-3p, miR-let-7b-3p were higher in COVID-19 patients detected. MiR-1307-3p, miR-146, miR-26a-5p, miR-21, miR19b-3p, miR-let-7b-3p were statistically significant in COVID-19 patients (p<0.05). Downregulation was observed in miR-16 MiR expression levels were different between patient groups. Conclusion: Considering host-virus interactions, we think miRNAs may be both a therapeutic target in COVID-19 and help to understand the pathogenesis of the disease. In understanding the pathogenesis of the disease, it is important to carry out clinical studies together with in vivo and in vitro experiments.