Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 4, 2025
Author Spotlight: Advancing Immune Monitoring in Critical Care Patients Using Whole Blood Assays
Published on: September 20, 2024
Comprehensive analysis of peripheral blood non-coding RNAs identifies a diagnostic panel for fungal infection after
Anli Yang1,2, Huadi Chen1,3,4, Jianwei Lin5
1Organ Transplant Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Abstract:
The occurrence of fungal infection seriously affects the survival and life quality of transplanted patients. The accurate diagnosis is of particular importance in the early stage of infection. To develop a novel diagnostic method for this kind of patient, we established a post-transplant immunosuppressed mice model with fungus inoculation and collected their peripheral blood at specific time points after infection. After screening by microarray, differentially expressed miRNAs and lncRNAs were selected and homologously analyzed with those of human beings from the gene database. These miRNAs and lncRNAs candidates were validated by qRT-PCR in peripheral blood samples from transplanted patients. We found that, compared with normal transplanted patients, the levels of miR-215 and miR-let-7 c were up-regulated in the plasma of patients with fungal infection (P < 0.01), while levels of miR-154, miR-193a, NR_027669.1, and NR_036506.1 were down-regulated in their peripheral blood mononuclear cells (P < 0.01). Principal component analysis shows that the expression pattern of the above RNAs was different between the two groups. A 6-noncoding-RNA detection panel was established by the support vector machine analysis, whose area under the ROC curve was 0.927. The accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and specificity of this model were 0.928, 0.919, 0.944, and 0.910, respectively. Though our detection panel has excellent diagnostic efficacy, its clinical application value still needs to be further confirmed by multi-center prospective clinical trials.
Insights
Early diagnosis of fungal infections in transplant patients is crucial. Researchers developed a novel noncoding RNA panel for accurate detection, improving patient survival and quality of life.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Science
- Molecular Biology
- Immunology
Background:
- Fungal infections pose a significant threat to transplant recipients' survival and quality of life.
- Early and accurate diagnosis is critical for effective management of post-transplant fungal infections.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel diagnostic method for early detection of fungal infections in transplant patients.
- To identify specific noncoding RNAs (miRNAs and lncRNAs) as potential biomarkers for fungal infection.
Main Methods:
- Established a post-transplant immunosuppressed mice model with fungal inoculation.
- Screened differentially expressed miRNAs and lncRNAs using microarray analysis.
- Validated candidate RNAs in peripheral blood samples from transplant patients using qRT-PCR.
- Developed a diagnostic panel using support vector machine analysis.
Main Results:
- Identified specific up-regulated (miR-215, miR-let-7c) and down-regulated (miR-154, miR-193a, NR_027669.1, NR_036506.1) noncoding RNAs in patients with fungal infection.
- Established a 6-noncoding-RNA detection panel with high diagnostic efficacy (AUC=0.927, accuracy=0.928).
- The panel demonstrated excellent sensitivity (0.944) and specificity (0.910) in distinguishing infected patients.
Conclusions:
- A novel 6-noncoding RNA panel shows high potential for accurate and early diagnosis of fungal infections in transplant patients.
- The identified noncoding RNAs serve as promising biomarkers for fungal infection detection.
- Further multi-center prospective clinical trials are needed to confirm the clinical application value of this diagnostic panel.
More Related Videos
08:01Detection of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis in Haematological Malignancy Patients by using Lateral-flow Technology
Published on: March 22, 2012
10:35A Blood-based Test for the Detection of ROS1 and RET Fusion Transcripts from Circulating Ribonucleic Acid Using Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction
Published on: April 5, 2018