Expressions of MiR-29a, TNF-Α and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Peripheral Blood of Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients and Their Clinical Significance

Background: To investigate the expression levels of miRNA-29a (miR-29a), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in peripheral blood of pulmonary tuberculosis patients and their correlation with clinical and pathological features.

Methods: A prospective analysis was performed on 192 pulmonary tuberculosis patients (pulmonary tuberculosis group) and 186 healthy patients (control group) who were admitted to Beijing Chest Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China from Jun 2015 to Jun 2019. Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression levels of miR-29a, and ELISA to detect the concentrations of TNF-α and VEGF in serum. The diagnostic value of miR-29a, TNF-α and VEGF in tuberculosis was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). The correlation of the expression levels of miR-29a, TNF-α and VEGF with gender, age, low-grade fever, expectoration, hemoptysis and pulmonary tuberculosis classification was analyzed.

Results: The expression levels of miR-29a, TNF-α and VEGF in pulmonary tuberculosis group were significantly higher than those in control group (0.001). The area under curves of miR-29a, TNF-α, and VEGF were 0.818, 0.743, and 0.805, respectively. miR-29a was closely correlated with low-grade fever, expectoration, hemoptysis and pulmonary tuberculosis classification (0.050). TNF-α and VEGF were closely correlated with patient age, low-grade fever, expectoration, hemoptysis and pulmonary tuberculosis classification (0.050).

Conclusion: Highly expressed in pulmonary tuberculosis patients, TNF-α and VEGF are closely correlated with the disease progression of patients, expected to become targets for the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis in the future.