Investigation of hsa-miR-1908 and hsa-miR-144 Expression Levels in Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Patients

Abstract

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a tick-borne zoonotic viral disease. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which play an important role in the regulation of gene expression, are involved in many processes essential for cell life such as development, differentiation, survival, apoptosis and aging. If miRNAs fail to fulfill their functions, they cause susceptibility to many diseases, including viral infections or cause the disease to be experienced in different clinical situations, such as severe or mild. In this study, we aimed to determine the expression levels of hsa-miR-144 and hsa-miR-1908 in CCHF patients and to compare the results in different clinical courses of CCHF disease. In this study, expression levels of hsa-miR-144 and hsa-miR-1908 were detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) in blood samples obtained from 60 CCHF patients and 40 healthy individuals. We also investigated the differences in the expression levels of the microRNAs between patients with severe and non-severe disease or between patients who died and survived. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction data were uploaded to the "Data Analysis Center" (Qiagen, Germany) and analyzed using the ΔΔCq (ΔΔCt) method. p value was calculated according to Student's t test for genes in the study groups. The expression level of hsa-miR-144 decreased (fold change= 0.09) and the expression level of hsa-miR-1908 increased 1.44-fold in CCHF patients compared to the control group. The expression of hsa-miR-144 and hsa-miR-1908 increased 2 and 2.36-fold, respectively, in severe patients compared to non-severe patients. The expression levels of hsa-miR-144 and hsa-miR-1908 were 16.3- and 14.3-fold higher, respectively, in fatal cases compared to surviving patients and these results were statistically significant. In addition, the expression level of hsa-miR-144 was significantly decreased in patients with low leukocyte counts and the expression level of hsa-miR-1908 was significantly increased in patients with prolonged prothrombin time (PT). This is the first study in the literature investigating the expression level of hsa-miR-1908 in CCHF patients. In conclusion, the data of this study suggest that hsa-miR-144 and hsa-miR-1908 may be important biomarkers in predicting the prognosis and clinical course of CCHF disease.