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. 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