Value of serum level of microRNA-494 in predicting prognosis of acute renal injury after cardiac surgery in children

Abstract

To explore the value of serum microRNA-494 (miR-494) expression in predicting the prognosis of acute renal injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery in children. 116 children with AKI after cardiopulmonary bypass for congenital heart disease admitted to Sanya People's Hospital from January 2016 to March 2019 were enrolled. The expression of miR-494 in serum was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and the levels of serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of all the children. The children were divided into survival group and death group according to 28-day survival. Serum levels of miR-494, NGAL and KIM-1 were measured in two groups. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of death in children with AKI after cardiac surgery. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of serum levels of miR-494, NGAL and KIM-1 in predicting prognosis of children with AKI after cardiac surgery was performed. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between serum levels of miR-494 and NGAL, KIM-1. After cardiopulmonary bypass in 116 children with AKI, 27 cases died and 89 cases survived during the 28-day observation. Compared with the survival group, the proportion of cyanosis in the death group was significantly increased, the proportion of blood perfusion was significantly decreased, the time of cardiopulmonary bypass and postoperative mechanical ventilation were significantly prolonged, and the blood glucose level was significantly increased after operation. There was no significant difference in other general data. The serum levels of miR-494, NGAL and KIM-1 in the death group were significantly higher than those in the survival group [miR-494 (2-ΔΔCt): 3.75±1.28 vs. 1.48±0.71, NGAL (mg/L): 583.60±52.72 vs. 320.52±31.84, KIM-1 (g/L): 30.53±6.38 vs. 17.40±3.72, all P < 0.01]. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed cyanosis [odds ratio (OR) = 1.716, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.184-2.982, P = 0.039], postoperative blood glucose (OR = 1.925, 95%CI was 1.262-3.387, P = 0.005), serum miR-494 (OR = 2.527, 95%CI was 1.706-5.148, P < 0.001), NGAL (OR = 2.473, 95%CI was 1.620-4.935, P < 0.001) and KIM-1 (OR = 1.805, 95%CI was 1.213-3.106, P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for death in children with AKI after cardiac surgery. ROC curve analysis showed the area under the curve (AUC) to predict the death of children with postoperative AKI was 0.868, 0.857 and 0.819 respectively, AUC of serum miR-494, NGAL and KIM-1 levels combination to predict the death of children with postoperative AKI was the largest (0.964, 95%CI was 0.908-0.997), with a high sensitivity and specificity of 97.0% and 91.8%. The correlation analysis showed the expression level of serum miR-494 was positively correlated with NGAL and KIM-1 in the death group (r1 = 0.902, r2 = 0.873, both P < 0.01). Serum levels of miR-494 increased significantly in children with AKI after cardiac surgery, which is an independent risk factor for death in children with AKI after cardiac surgery, and the combination of NGAL and KIM-1 levels had a high value in predicting the prognosis of children with AKI after cardiac surgery.