Identification of potential urine proteins and microRNA biomarkers for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis patients

Emerg Microbes Infect. 2018 Apr 11;7(1):63. doi: 10.1038/s41426-018-0066-5.

Abstract

This study identified urinary biomarkers for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis. The urine proteomic profiles of 45 pulmonary tuberculosis patients prior to anti-TB treatment and 45 healthy controls were analyzed and compared using two-dimensional electrophoresis with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. Nineteen differentially expressed proteins were identified preliminarily, and western blotting and qRT-PCR were performed to confirm these changes at the translational and transcriptional levels, respectively, using samples from 122 additional pulmonary tuberculosis patients and 73 additional healthy controls. Two proteins, mannose-binding lectin 2 and a 35-kDa fragment of inter-α-trypsin inhibitor H4, exhibited the highest differential expression. We constructed a protein-microRNA interaction network that primarily involved complement and inflammatory responses. Eleven microRNAs from microRNA-target protein interactions were screened and validated using qRT-PCR with some of the above samples, including 97 pulmonary tuberculosis patients and 48 healthy controls. Only miR-625-3p exhibited significant differential expression (p < 0.05). miR-625-3p was increased to a greater extent in samples of smear-positive than smear-negative patients. miR-625-3p was predicted to target mannose-binding lectin 2 protein. A binary logistic regression model based on miR-625-3p, mannose-binding lectin 2, and inter-α-trypsin inhibitor H4 was further established. This three-biomarker combination exhibited better performance for tuberculosis diagnosis than individual biomarkers or any two-biomarker combination and generated a diagnostic sensitivity of 85.87% and a specificity of 87.50%. These novel urine biomarkers may significantly improve tuberculosis diagnosis.

MeSH terms

  • Biomarkers / urine*
  • Blood Proteins / urine
  • Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional
  • Female
  • Glycoproteins / urine
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mannose-Binding Lectin / urine
  • MicroRNAs / urine*
  • Middle Aged
  • Proteinase Inhibitory Proteins, Secretory / urine
  • Proteomics / methods
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization / methods
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / diagnosis*
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / microbiology
  • Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / urine*

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Blood Proteins
  • Glycoproteins
  • ITIH4 protein, human
  • MIRN625 microRNA, human
  • Mannose-Binding Lectin
  • MicroRNAs
  • Proteinase Inhibitory Proteins, Secretory