miRNA expression in tracheal aspirates [sBPD, BPD-PH]. miRNA expression in tracheal aspirates [sBPD, BPD-PH]

Extreme preterm infants are a growing population in the neonatal intensive care unit. Multiple factors play a role in preterm birth, resulting in complications including severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (sBPD) without or with and pulmonary hypertension (BPD-PH). The goal of this study was to identify biomarker signatures associated with sBPD and BPD-PH. We analyzed profiles in tracheal aspirates (TAs) from 46 extremely preterm infants receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (25 sBPD, 21 BPD-PH) . We found specific miRNA signatures in TAs that may serve as biomarkers for the two disease phenotypes. Overall design: We extracted RNA from 0.5 mL of tracheal aspirates from premature neonates with BPD and BPD-PH using the Plasma/Serum RNA Purification Kit (Norgen). The expression of 1,066 human miRNAs was quantified using the Human miRNome miScript® miRNA PCR Array (QIAGEN, MIHS-3216Z). Results (Ct values) were normalized to global means, and fold changes were calculated using the 2-ΔΔCT method. variables: sBPD, BPD-PH