Department of Renal Medicine, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, Australia.
Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2011 Nov;26(11):3794-802. doi: 10.1093/ndt/gfr485. Epub 2011 Sep 2.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression, which have roles in renal development and disease. They exist in biological fluids including blood and urine and may have signalling roles and potential as disease biomarkers.
We measured the levels of miRNAs in patients with different stages of chronic kidney failure including those receiving maintenance haemodialysis treatment.
In patients with severe chronic renal failure, circulating levels of total and specific miRNAs are reduced in comparison to patients with mild renal impairment or normal renal function. A strong correlation exists between detected circulating miRNAs and estimated glomerular filtration rate, and less strong correlations with other features of chronic kidney disease, such as anaemia and hyperparathyroidism.
These findings have important implications for the use of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers in individuals with renal impairment and for the pathogenesis of uraemia.
微小 RNA（miRNAs）是基因表达的重要调控因子，在肾脏发育和疾病中发挥作用。它们存在于包括血液和尿液在内的生物体液中，可能具有信号作用和作为疾病生物标志物的潜力。
我们测量了不同阶段慢性肾衰竭患者（包括接受维持性血液透析治疗的患者）的 miRNA 水平。
与轻度肾功能不全或肾功能正常的患者相比，严重慢性肾衰竭患者的循环总 miRNA 和特定 miRNA 水平降低。检测到的循环 miRNA 与估计肾小球滤过率之间存在很强的相关性，与慢性肾脏病的其他特征（如贫血和甲状旁腺功能亢进）之间存在较弱的相关性。
这些发现对将循环 miRNA 用作肾功能不全个体的生物标志物以及对尿毒症发病机制具有重要意义。
