Dysregulation of hepatic microRNA expression profiles with Clonorchis sinensis infection

MiRNA microarray technology and bioinformatic analysis were used to investigate the regulatory mechanisms of host miRNA and to compare miRNA expression profiles in the liver tissues of Clonorchis sinensis-infected rats and controls.A total of eight miRNAs were downregulated and two were upregulated, which showed differentially altered expression profiles in the liver tissue of C. sinensis-infected rats. Further analysis of the differentially expressed miRNAs revealed that many important signal pathways were triggered after infection with C. sinensis, which were related to clonorchiasis pathogenesis, such as cell apoptosis and inflammation, as well as genes involved in signal transduction mechanisms, such as pathways in cancer and the Wnt and Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) signaling pathways.This dysregulation in miRNA expression may contribute to the etiology and pathophysiology of clonorchiasis. These results also provide new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of miRNAs in clonorchiasis, which may present potential targets for future C. sinensis control strategies.本研究采用miRNA微阵列（miRNA microarray）技术结合生物信息学分析，探究宿主miRNA的调控机制，并对比华支睾吸虫（Clonorchis sinensis）感染大鼠与对照组大鼠的肝组织miRNA表达谱。结果显示，感染华支睾吸虫的大鼠肝组织中共存在8个表达下调的miRNA以及2个表达上调的miRNA，其表达谱呈现显著差异改变。对上述差异表达miRNA的进一步分析表明，华支睾吸虫感染后会激活多条与华支睾吸虫病发病机制相关的重要信号通路，例如细胞凋亡、炎症通路；同时还涉及诸多参与信号转导过程的通路，如癌症通路、Wnt信号通路以及丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（MAPK）信号通路。这种miRNA表达失调可能参与华支睾吸虫病的病因发生与病理生理进程。本研究结果还为阐明华支睾吸虫病中miRNA的调控机制提供了新视角，同时可为未来华支睾吸虫的防控策略提供潜在作用靶点。