Exosomal microRNA expression profiles of cerebrospinal fluid in febrile seizure patients

Abstract Purpose Febrile seizures (FS) are the most common seizures found in pediatric patients. Recently, microRNA (miRNA) have been used as a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of various diseases. This study aims to explore the exosomal miRNA expression profile of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in atypical FS patients. Methods This is a case-control study including CSF specimens of 41 pediatric patients. The CSF specimens were categorized into FS and a control group. Microarray assays were performed to evaluate the CSF exosomal miRNA expression profile. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays were conducted to validate the microarray assay result. Bioinformatic analysis was performed to analyze the result. Results Thirteen (62%) patients in the FS group experienced complex FS. A total of 96 miRNAs were significantly expressed in the CSF study samples and 95 amongst them, exhibited higher expression in FS than in the control group. Further validation qPCR test indicated that the top 5 highly expressed miRNA (miR-4486, miR-6850-5p, miR-642b-3p, miR-7107-5p, miR-4281) showed same results as in the microarray assay. Bioinformatic analysis identified 455 target genes in the FS group. Conclusion FS patients displayed higher CSF exosomal miRNA profiles than the control. These altered miRNA profiles appeared to be related to complex FS.