microrna-296-5p expression in covid-19 patients and its relationship with inflammatory cytokines

Objects: coronavirus, a positive-sense, single-stranded rna virus with ~30 kb, can infect various host species. cytokine storm, caused by the activation of some pro-inflammatory genes in the second phase of covid-19 as an infectious and contagious disease, is accompanied by severe acute respiratory disorder. based on the evidence, micrornas (mir) and cytokine levels can play a critical role in host cell antiviral defense mechanisms. the present study investigates the pattern changes of ip-10 and mir-296-5p genes expression as well as their relationship with some inflammatory cytokines and biochemical variables in covid-19 patients.methods: present retrospective single-center study was conducted on 30 covid-19 patients and 30 controls. peripheral blood mononuclear cell (pbmc) mir-296-5p and ip-10 gene expression were evaluated using real-time pcr. il-6, tnf-α, and crp serum levels were measured by utilizing elisa.results: higher mir-296-5p and ip-10 genes expression in covid-19 patients compared to controls (p=0.001) were revealed as a result of this study. moreover, ip-10, il-6, and tnf-α levels were significantly higher (p‌<‌0.01) in covid-19 patients than in controls. furthermore, results showed positive correlations between mir-296-5p expression and serum levels of il-6, crp, and tnf-α in patients with covid-19. roc curve analysis of mir-296-5p in covid-19 patients showed an [area under curve‌=‌0.830, 95% ci (0.658‌-‌0.815), p‌<‌0.001] with an optimal cut-off point of 0.32965.conclusions: our results suggest regulatory role of mir-296-5p in covid-19 for cytokine secretion. the results indicate that pbmc expression of mir-296-5p and ip-10 genes might be convenient novel biomarkers for prognosis of covid-19.