miR-210 Is Up-Regulated in the Peripheral Blood of Asphyxiated Neonates

Perinatal asphyxia is the third-leading (23%) cause of neonatal death worldwide. Even in cases where it is not fatal, it can lead to hypoxic injury to the brain, heart, lungs, liver, gut and kidneys. Perinatal asphyxia is especially likely to cause neurodevelopmental deficits.

In the present study, we aimed to evaluate miR-210 expression in the peripheral blood of asphyxiated neonates and to explore the connection between miR-210 expression and neurological diseases in perinatal asphyxia.

Peripheral blood samples were obtained, and clinical characteristics (sex; mode of delivery; 5 and 10 minutes Apgar scores and neonatal behaviour neurological assessment (NBNA), white blood cell (WBC), procalcitonin (PCT) and blood gas analysis scores) were recorded for 42 asphyxiated neonates and 41 healthy controls. The miR-210 expression in the peripheral blood was determined using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Statistical analysis was used for predicting the relationship between miR-210 expression and other indicators associated with the diagnosis of asphyxia. Bioinformatics analysis was performed for exploring the biological function of miR-210.

The miR-210 expression was noted to be 1.8-fold higher in the peripheral blood of asphyxiated neonates than in healthy controls (P < 0.01). The area under curve (AUC) of miR-210 expression in the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was > 0.7 (AUC = 0.746, P = 0.0002). For examining the association between miR-210 and autism or epilepsy, 670 putative miR-210 targets involved in neurological processes were explored; of these targets, 102 and 26 targets were significantly associated with autism and epilepsy, respectively. These results suggest the involvement of miR-210 in neurological and cardiovascular injury associated with asphyxia, but is primarily related to neurological processes.

The expression of miR-210 could be used as an indicator to diagnose neonates with asphyxia, which may help in identifying some neurological and cardiac diseases that cannot be diagnosed during traditional neonatal health screening. In addition, it could provide early prevention and treatment for asphyxiated neonates.