Serum miR-342-3p Acts as a Biomarker for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Participates in the Disease Progression

Min You, Long Zhang, Junxiao Ding Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Gansu Medical College, Pingliang, Gansu, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Junxiao Ding, Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Gansu Medical College, No. 296, Kongtong East Road, Kongtong District, Pingliang, Gansu, 744000, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-0933-8613787, Fax +86-0933-8613787, Email junxiaodinggs@163.comPurpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic ability and prognostic value of miR-342-3p in SLE patients by detecting the expression level of serum miR-342-3p in SLE patients.Patients and Methods: The expression level of serum miR-342-3p in all subjects was determined by qRT-PCR technology, and the correlation of miR-342-3p with SLEDAI scores was evaluated using Spearman correlation coefficient. The diagnostic value of miR-342-3p in SLE was assessed using ROC curve. The prognostic value of miR-342-3p in SLE patients was analyzed by Kaplan–Meier survival curve and multivariate COX regression.Results: The qRT-PCR results showed that the expression level of serum miR-342-3p in SLE patients was significantly lower than that in healthy controls (P < 0.001). Serum miR-342-3p expression level was negatively correlated with SLEDAI scores (r = - 0.810, P < 0.001). The ROC curve suggested that serum miR-342-3p expression level was discriminative between SLE patients and healthy controls. Survival analysis results indicated that SLE patients with low serum miR-342-3p expression had a higher probability of poor prognosis of SLE (Log rank P = 0.003).Conclusion: The expression level of serum miR-342-3p was valuable in the diagnosis of SLE. Meanwhile, the low expression level of serum miR-342-3p was associated with the poor prognosis of SLE.Keywords: miR-342-3p, systemic lupus erythematosus, diagnosis, prognosis