Clinical Significance of microRNA-146a in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the clinical significance of microRNA-146 (miRNA-146) in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). METHODS The present prospective observational study included 312 UC patients from August 2015 to August 2018. All patients were divided into mild/moderate and severe groups according to their Sutherland Disease Activity Index (DAI) scores. The clinical activity index and endoscopic index were used to determine the severity of UC. Serum levels of NF-κB, CRP, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression of miRNA-146a was measured using RT-qPCR. RESULTS The expression of miRNA-146a was significantly lower in both mild/moderate and severe UC patients than the healthy control, and the severe UC patients had the lowest level of miRNA-146a. All inflammatory factors were remarkably higher in severe UC patients. miRNA-146a level was negatively correlated with NF-κB, CRP, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α levels. The ratio of severe UC patients was significantly higher in patients with lower miRNA-146a than in patients with higher miRNA-146a. The levels of NF-κB, CRP, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were all remarkably higher in patients with lower miRNA-146a. Patients with lower miRNA-146a had higher Sutherland DAI scores, clinical activity index, and endoscopic index. CONCLUSIONS miRNA-146a was down-regulated in UC patients and was negatively correlated with serum levels of inflammatory factors as well as severity of UC patients.