mir-26a and mir-125b as indicators for the severity of sars-cov-2 infectious: a case-control study

Background: the recent sars-cov-2 coronavirus pandemic has spread worldwide, with the first cases recorded in december 2019 in china. symptoms include fever, cough, dyspnea, and gastrointestinal issues. patients with sars-cov-2 are classified as mild, severe, or critical, highlighting the necessity for earlier treatment methods and reliable biomarkers. micrornas have consistently been considered essential biological biomarkers. objectives: in this case-control study, we investigated the levels of mir-26a and mir-125b in pbmcs of sars-cov-2 patients in northwestern iran. methods: blood samples were collected from 100 covid-19-infected patients, divided into two groups: 50 patients with no serious lung damage and 50 patients with covid-19 infection and a lung abscess. rna extraction techniques were used to examine pbmc specimens from covid-19 patients. mrna was extracted from wbcs, and the expression levels of mir-26a and mir-125b were evaluated using qrt-pcr in the two study groups. results: the expression levels of mir-26a and mir-125b in pbmcs of patients with a poor prognosis were significantly lower compared to those with a good prognosis, as shown by qrt-pcr. the receiver operating characteristic (roc) analysis indicated significant diagnostic potential for both mirnas (mir-26a [area under the roc curve (auc)] = 0.8458, p < 0.0001; mir-125b auc = 0.7944, p < 0.0001). conclusions: the relative expression of mir-26a and mir-125b in sars-cov-2 infection was significantly different between the two study groups. these findings suggest their potential as disease severity indicators and prognostic markers.