Key plasma microRNAs variations in patients with Plasmodium vivax malaria in Iran

As the cause of RBC infection and splenomegaly, malaria remains a major parasitic disease in the world. New specific biomarkers such as MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are developed to accurately diagnose malaria and clarify its pathologic changes. This study aimed at evaluating changes in the plasma miRNAs markers of Plasmodium vivax in patients with malaria in Chabahar, Iran.

For the present descriptive-analytical study conducted in 2018, we collected blood samples from 20 individuals. Real-time quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to measure the plasma levels of miR-145, miR-155, miR-191 and miR-223-3p.

The 2-ΔΔCT method of Real-time PCR showed the plasma levels of miR-223, miR-145 and miR-155 to respectively be 5.6, 16.9 and 1.7 times higher in patients with P. vivax compared to those in healthy individuals. The expressions of all the three miRNAs significantly increased in patients with malaria compared to in the controls (P < 0.05). The expression of miR-191 was 1.405 times higher in patients with malaria compared to that in the controls, although the difference was statistically insignificant.

The present study found P. vivax to change host miRNAs such as miR-223, miR-145 and miR-155. These small molecules thus appeared to constitute biomarkers for P. vivax malaria assessment.