Diagnostic and prognostic value of deregulated miR-493-5p in children with severe pneumonia

BACKGROUND: Mounting research has proven that microRNAs (miRNAs) exert critical regulatory functions in the pathological progression of pediatric pneumonia. AIMS: To investigate the expression levels and clinical significance of miR-493-5p in children with severe pneumonia. METHODS: A total of 125 children diagnosed with severe pneumonia, 100 children with mild pneumonia, and 100 healthy children as normal controls were enrolled in this study. RT-qPCR was adopted to quantify serum miR-493-5p expression levels. ROC curves were plotted to assess its diagnostic efficiency; Kaplan-Meier survival analysis combined with Log-rank test evaluated 28-day prognostic value. LPS-stimulated MRC-5 human lung fibroblast cell model was constructed for in vitro functional experiments to uncover the underlying molecular mechanism of miR-493-5p. RESULTS: Serum miR-493-5p expression was markedly elevated in children with severe pneumonia. ROC analysis validated that serum miR-493-5p possessed satisfactory accuracy for distinguishing severe pneumonia from mild cases. miR-493-5p may target Interferon Regulatory Factor 1 (IRF1) to affect the functions and inflammatory responses of cells in the pneumonia model. CONCLUSIONS: Serum miR-493-5p level has significant diagnostic and prognostic value in children with severe pneumonia.