The following is a summary of “miRNome profiling of extracellular vesicles in severe COVID-19 patients and identification of predictors of mortality,” published in the June 2024 issue of Infectious Disease by Prada et al.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), carrying microRNAs (miRNAs) and other molecules are crucial for intercellular communication, particularly in SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study identifying miRNAs in patients’ EVs that predict mortality risk in severe COVID-19.

They enrolled 36 severe patients with COVID-19 and 33 patients with HCs. The miRNAs derived from EVs were isolated from blood plasma and sequenced. Additionally, bioinformatics analysis was employed to compare and identify significant differences in miRNA expression between the groups. To validate the findings, miRNA profiles of an additional group of patients with severe COVID-19 (n=32) and controls (n=12) were analyzed and compared to the initial data. Survival analysis was performed to identify specific miRNAs within the differentially expressed group (SDE miRNAs), which might be associated with increased mortality risk.

The result showed 50 miRNAs in plasma-derived EVs with significantly different expression levels than controls. Specific miRNAs were linked to biological pathways involved in inflammation and cell adhesion. Additionally, 15 miRNAs showed significant differences in expression levels within patient plasma compared to controls. Two particular miRNAs, hsa-miR-1469 and hsa-miR-6124 were identified as strong potential predictors of mortality risk. The 2 miRNAs demonstrated an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.938, indicating high accuracy in predicting mortality.

Investigators concluded that miRNAs carried within EVs represented promising biomarkers for predicting mortality in severe COVID-19, highlighting the potential clinical significance in disease prognosis and management.

Source: academic.oup.com/jid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/infdis/jiae310/7691849