WITHDRAWN: IL-18 and miR-130a in severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia

Abstract

Abstract Background Thrombocytopenia is one of the most common laboratory abnormalities encountered in patients with severe sepsis. It has been reported that thrombocytopenia is linked to mortality in patients with severe sepsis. However, the mechanism of thrombocytopenia in sepsis is unknown. We hypothesized that inflammatory cytokines and microRNAs are not only involved in the pathogenesis of sepsis, but also are correlated with thrombocytopenia. Methods Twenty-eight severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia and 32 severe sepsis patients without thrombocytopenia were recruited for the present study. The mRNA and protein expression of interleukin (IL)-18 and IL-27 were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. miR-130a and miR-150 expression was detected by Taqman real-time PCR. Results The results demonstrate that the mRNA expression and plasma concentration of IL-18 in severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia were higher than those in severe sepsis patients without thrombocytopenia (P=.015 and P=.034, respectively), and miR-130a expression was significantly lower in severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia (P Conclusions Our data demonstrate that severe sepsis patients with thrombocytopenia have increased plasma and mRNA expression levels of IL-18 and decreased expression of miR-130a, suggesting that IL-18 and miR-130a might be involved in the pathophysiological process of severe sepsis with thrombocytopenia.