1. Parasite-derived microRNAs in host serum as novel biomarkers of helminth infection
- Author
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Hoy, Anna M., Lundie, Rachel J., Ivens, Alasdair, Quintana, Juan F., Nausch, Norman, Forster, Thorsten, Jones, Frances, Kabatereine, Narcis B., Dunne, David W., Mutapi, Francisca, MacDonald, Andrew S., Buck, Amy H., Dunne, David [0000-0002-8940-9886], and Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,lcsh:Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine ,Adolescent ,lcsh:RC955-962 ,Mice ,Young Adult ,Diagnostic Medicine ,Pathology ,Parasitic Diseases ,Animals ,Humans ,Child ,lcsh:Public aspects of medicine ,lcsh:RA1-1270 ,Schistosoma mansoni ,Middle Aged ,Schistosomiasis mansoni ,Mice, Inbred C57BL ,MicroRNAs ,Infectious Diseases ,Liver ,Child, Preschool ,Medicine ,Female ,RNA, Helminth ,Biomarkers ,Research Article ,General Pathology - Abstract
Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short non-coding RNA that play important roles in disease processes in animals and are present in a highly stable cell-free form in body fluids. Here, we examine the capacity of host and parasite miRNAs to serve as tissue or serum biomarkers of Schistosoma mansoni infection. Methods/Principal Findings We used Exiqon miRNA microarrays to profile miRNA expression in the livers of mice infected with S. mansoni at 7 weeks post-infection. Thirty-three mouse miRNAs were differentially expressed in infected compared to naïve mice (>2 fold change, p, Author Summary Schistosomiasis is a chronic disease caused by blood flukes that affects over 200 million people worldwide, of which 90% live in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the field setting schistosomiasis caused by S. mansoni is diagnosed by detection of parasite eggs in stool samples using microscopic techniques. Here we investigate the potential of microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of short noncoding RNAs, to act as biomarkers of S. mansoni infection. We have identified a specific subset of murine miRNAs whose expression is significantly altered in the liver between 6โ12 weeks post infection. However their abundance in serum is not significantly different between naïve and S. mansoni-infected mice until twelve weeks post infection and they do not display consistent differential abundance in the serum of infected versus uninfected humans. In contrast, three parasite-derived miRNAs (miR-277, bantam and miR-3479-3p) were detected in the serum of infected mice and human patients and the combined detection of these miRNAs could distinguish S. mansoni infected from uninfected individuals from low and high infection intensity areas with 89%/80% or 80%/90% specificity/sensitivity, respectively. These results demonstrate that miRNAs of parasite origin are a new class of serum biomarker for detecting S. mansoni and likely other helminth infections.
- Published
- 2014
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