Down-Regulation of miR-19a as a Biomarker for Early Detection of Silicosis

The accumulated data indicate that there is significant genetic heterogeneity underlying the etiology of silicosis. Recent reports have revealed that microRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in regulating pulmonary fibrosis. This study, therefore, aimed to identify some miRNAs as biomarkers for silicosis, and to explore the early diagnostic value of biomarkers for silicosis. Total RNAs were collected from the peripheral blood leukocytes of 23 silicosis patients and 23 healthy controls, the different miRNAs were screened using microarrays. The potential biomarker miRNAs were identified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Eighteen differential miRNAs in leukocytes were up-regulated and twenty differential miRNAs were down-regulated in the silicosis group, compared with the control group. The expression levels of miR-181a and miR-19a were 0.8854 ± 0.1037 and 0.2929 ± 0.0342 by the relative quantitation method 2(-△△CT) of qPCR, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for miR-181a at a cut-off value of 1.8917 were 70% and 75%, respectively, whereas, those for miR-19a at a cut-off value of 3.6828 were 95% and 95%, respectively. Thus, miR-19a in peripheral blood leukocyte could be used as an effective biomarker for silicosis. Anat Rec, 299:1300-1307, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.