Conclusions
The lower expression levels of miR-16-5p and miR-26a-5p in patients with HAART-resistance suggested that these may serve as potential biomarkers for the identification of HAART-responsive patients.
Methods
miRNA assays were performed on plasma samples obtained from 20 HIV-1-positive patients. A total of ten patients were divided into two groups: HAART-responsive and HAART-resistant (n=5 per group). Commercial arrays were subsequently used to identify 84 miRNAs. A total of three differentially expressed miRNAs were selected and analyzed by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Five other patients were subsequently added to each group for a new relative expression analysis. The absolute expression level of the two miRNAs was obtained and compared using the Student's t test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to identify patients with antiretroviral therapy (ART) resistance.
Results
The array analysis revealed that miR-15b-5p, miR-16-5p, miR-20a-5p, miR-26a-5p, miR-126-3p and miR-150-5p were down-regulated in patients with HAART-resistance comparing with HAART-responsive. The expression levels of miR-16-5p, miR-26a-5p and miR-150-5p were confirmed using qPCR. The area under the ROC curve was 1.0 for the three miRNAs. Conclusions: The lower expression levels of miR-16-5p and miR-26a-5p in patients with HAART-resistance suggested that these may serve as potential biomarkers for the identification of HAART-responsive patients.