Background:
This study aimed to investigate the expression levels of microRNA (miRNA)-125b in serum
exosomes and its diagnostic efficacy for asthma severity.
Methods:
The study included 80 patients with untreated asthma and 80 healthy volunteers. The patients were divided
into 4 groups according to disease severity: 20 with the intermittent state, 20 with the mildly persistent state, 20 with
the moderately persistent state, and 20 with the severely persistent state. The expression levels of miRNA-125b in
serum exosomes of each group were detected using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction and compared. The
Spearman correlation analysis was used to study the correlation between the expression levels of miRNA-125b in
serum exosomes and asthma severity. The diagnostic efficacy of the expression levels of miRNA-125b in exosomes
for asthma severity was evaluated using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve.
Results:
The expression levels of miRNA-125b in serum exosomes of patients with intermittent, mildly persistent,
moderately persistent, and severely persistent asthma were all higher than those in the healthy control group, with
statistically significant differences. The expression levels of miRNA-125b were also statistically significantly different
among patients in each group. The Spearman correlation analysis showed a positive correlation of the relative
expression of miRNA-125b in serum exosomes with asthma severity. The area under the ROC curve of the diagnostic
efficacy of miRNA-125b in serum exosomes for patients with intermittent, mildly, moderately, and severely persistent
asthma was 0.7770, 0.8573, 0.9111, and 0.9995, respectively.
Conclusion:
The expression levels of miRNA-125b in serum exosomes had a high diagnostic efficacy and might
serve as a noninvasive diagnostic marker for asthma severity.
