Circulating microRNA signatures serve as potential diagnostic biomarkers for Helicobacter pylori infection

Helicobacter pylor (H pylori), a Gram-negative, microaerobic human pathogen, has been found to be involved in many gastroduodenal diseases. Accurate diagnosis of H pylori infection is a vital part of the effective management of gastroduodenal diseases. Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) have shown the potential to be used as noninvasive biomarkers for the diagnosis of infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to explore plasma miRNAs as noninvasive biomarkers for H pylori infection. We performed a plasma miRNA expression profile using Illumina high-throughput sequencing and validated the levels of differentially expressed miRNAs in the plasma of 63 H pylori-infected patients and 41 healthy volunteers by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The sequencing results showed that 37 miRNAs were upregulated in the H pylori-infected patients compared with that in the healthy volunteers, while six miRNAs were downregulated. qRT-PCR and receiver operator characteristic analysis suggested that the expression of miR-28-3p, miR-143-3p, miR-151a-3p, and miR-148a-3p were closely associated with H pylori infection. Therefore, the four plasma miRNA panels mentioned above could serve as promising noninvasive biomarkers of H pylori infection.