Clinical value of serum miRNA-206 in pulmonary tuberculosis

This study sought to investigate the diagnostic value and the effect of microRNA (miR)-206 on drug resistance in pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) patients.

This study included 88 TB patients (TB group) as study subjects, 80 healthy subjects as control 1 (Control group), and 85 latent TB infection (LTBI) patients as control 2 (LTBI group). The drug resistance of TB patients after standard anti-TB treatment was recorded. TB patients were assigned into the pan-sensitive and drug-resistance groups, with miR-206 level in drug-resistant TB patients analyzed. The correlation coefficients between inflammatory indicators (TNF-α, IgG, IL-4, IFN-γ, IP-10) and drug resistance in TB patients were analyzed, and the independent correlation between miR-206 levels and drug resistance was analyzed.

Compared to the Control and LTBI groups, serum miR-206 and IP-10 were highly-expressed in TB group. The miR-206 levels positively correlated with IP-10 levels. miR-206 had potential diagnostic value for TB. Levels of TNF-α, IgG, IFN-γ, and IL-4 were elevated in TB group and positively-correlated with miR-206 levels. Moreover, miR-206 levels were higher in the Drug-resistance group than the pan-sensitive group. The low-expression group had a lower incidence of drug resistance than the high-expression group (χ² = 16.84, P < 0.0001). miR-206 was the most significant indicator affecting drug resistance in TB patients (β = 0.516, P = 0.013). miR-206 was an independent risk factor for drug resistance.

High miR-206 expression helps TB diagnosis and may predict drug-resistance incidence. miR-206 may be an independent risk factor for drug resistance in TB patients.