Correlation and clinical significance of long non-coding RNA p50-associated cyclooxygenase-2 extragenic RNA and nuclear factor-κB expression in peripheral blood of children with severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia

WANG Tongmin

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1007-8134.2024.01.014

Abstract：Objective To investigate the correlation and clinical significance of the expression of lncRNA PACER and NF-κB in peripheral blood of children with severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia. Methods Two hundred and thirty-eight children with severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia who received treatment in the Mianyang First People's Hospital from July 2020 to July 2023 were collected as the severe group, during the same period, another 100 children with mild Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia who received treatment were selected as the mild group. Additionally, 100 healthy children who underwent physical examination were enrolled in control group. The differences and correlations between lncRNA PACER and NF-κB mRNA expression levels in peripheral blood were analyzed in the 3 groups. The children in the severe group were divided into the improvement group (n = 197) and the deterioration group (n = 41) according to the disease regression. The differences of lncRNA PACER and NF-κB mRNA expression levels in peripheral blood in the early period after admission were compared between the 2 groups. The predictive value of lncRNA PACER and NF-κB mRNA expression in peripheral blood of children in the severe group was analyzed by using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results The expression levels of lncRNA PACER and NF-κB in peripheral blood of severe group, mild group and control group were decreased gradually, and the difference between the pairwise comparison was statistically significant ( P<0.05 ). The level of lncRNA PACER in peripheral blood was positively correlated with the level of NF-κB in serum of children from severe group ( P < 0.05 ). Expression levels of lncRNA PACER and NF-κB mRNA in peripheral blood of children in the deterioration group were higher than those in the improvement group at admission ( P < 0.05 ). ROC curve showed that the optimal cut-off value and AUC of lncRNA PACER expression in peripheral blood in early admission to predict poor prognosis of children in severe group were 1.715 and 0.816 [95％CI: 0.733～0.898], corresponding sensitivity and specificity were 71.15％ and 74.47％ respectively; optimal cut-off value of NF-κB mRNA expression in peripheral blood for predicting poor prognosis was 2.890, AUC was 0.776 [95％CI: 0.687 ～ 0.865], corresponding sensitivity and specificity were 74.0％ and 63.27％ respectively in severe group. Conclusion The expression level of lncRNA PACER and NF-κB in peripheral blood of children with severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia is positively correlated and has prognostic value.