Altered
circulating microRNA (
miRNA) profiles have been noted in patients with microbial
infections. We compared host serum
miRNA levels in patients with
hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) caused by enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus 16 (CVA16) as well as in other microbial
infections and in healthy individuals. Among 664 different
miRNAs analyzed using a
miRNA array, 102 were up-regulated and 26 were down-regulated in sera of patients with enteroviral
infections. Expression levels of ten candidate
miRNAs were further evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR assays. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed that six
miRNAs (miR-148a, miR-143, miR-324-3p, miR-628-3p, miR-140-5p, and miR-362-3p) were able to discriminate patients with
enterovirus infections from healthy controls with area under curve (AUC) values ranged from 0.828 to 0.934. The combined six
miRNA using multiple logistic regression analysis provided not only a sensitivity of 97.1% and a specificity of 92.7% but also a unique profile that differentiated enterovirial
infections from other microbial
infections. Expression levels of five
miRNAs (miR-148a, miR-143, miR-324-3p, miR-545, and miR-140-5p) were significantly increased in patients with CVA16 versus those with EV71 (p<0.05). Combination of miR-545, miR-324-3p, and miR-143 possessed a moderate ability to discrimination between CVA16 and EV71 with an AUC value of 0.761. These data indicate that sera from patients with different subtypes of enteroviral
infection express unique
miRNA profiles. Serum
miRNA expression profiles may provide supplemental
biomarkers for diagnosing and subtyping enteroviral HFMD
infections.