Peritoneal dialysis effluent-derived exosomal miR-432-5p: an assessment tool for peritoneal dialysis efficacy

Ultrafiltration (UF) volume and peritoneal solute transport rate (PSTR) are common parameters used to evaluate the efficacy of peritoneal dialysis (PD) on individual patients. It is unclear whether the level of exosomal microRNA (miRNA) in peritoneal dialysis effluent (PDE) can predict UF or PSTR. This study was designed to investigate if there is a correlation between PDE exosomal miRNA (miR-432-5p) levels and various UF volumes and PSTRs in PD patients. It also aimed to explore the underlying mechanism of water and dialytic sodium removal (DSR).

The PSTR was quantified using the 4-hour (4 h) 3.86% dialysate to plasma creatinine ratio. The PDE exosomes (PDE-exo) were isolated by ultracentrifugation. An miRNA assay was used to identify the different miRNA in the PDE-exo of patients in a high (H; PSTR >0.65, n=5) and low (L; PSTR <0.65, n=5) group. We focused on miR-432-5p as bioinformatic analysis had shown that it could be involved in sodium transport. We used mimic/inhibitor transfection and dual luciferase reporter assay to verify the target genes of miR-432-5p. We used PKH-67 stained PDE-exo to observe their interaction with human MeT-5A mesothelial cells.

Our results showed that the PDE-exo-miR-432-5p level was higher in group H than in group L. The levels of PDE-exo-miR-432-5p were positively correlated with PSTR (r=0.391; P<0.05; n=40) and negatively correlated with the 4 h UF volume (r=-0.376; P<0.05; n=40) and 4 h DSR (r=-0.535; P<0.01; n=24). Epithelial sodium channel α subunit (α-ENaC) was revealed as a direct target gene of miR-432-5p and expressed on both human peritoneum and MeT-5A cells. Furthermore, we found the PKH67 labeled-PDE-exo could be internalized into MeT-5A cells.

A high PDE-exo-miR-432-5p level was associated with poor UF volume and DSR. It may be that PDE-exo-miR-432-5p affects DSR through downregulating α-ENaC expression.