MicroRNAs Biomarkers and Host Response Pathways in Severe Pulmonary Hemorrhagic Syndrome due to Leptospirosis

Serum microRNA profiling revealed distinct expression patterns between the two phenotypes. From the top 81 significantly expressed microRNAs, seven were selected for validation. Among these, miR-5010-3p and miR-147b-3p had area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.72 (95% CI: 0.62–0.81) and 0.66 (95% CI: 0.55–0.76) for discriminating SPHS. Notably, the two microRNAs could detect SPHS in patients who were yet to manifest chest radiograph shadows at the time of sample collection, with consistent AUC values. Candidate microRNAs were initially discovered through a global profiling of 800 serum microRNAs in five SPHS and seven non-SPHS patients, then validated using real-time polymerase-chain reactions in 28 SPHS and 140 non-SPHS patients.