Can parasite-derived microRNAs differentiate active and inactive cystic echinococcosis patients?

Cystic Echinococcosis (CE) is a neglected zoonotic disease caused by the metacestode form of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato. Non-invasive imaging techniques, especially ultrasound, are primarily used for CE diagnosis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNA molecules that act as post-transcriptional regulators in various biological processes. After identification of parasite-derived miRNAs, these miRNAs are considered to be potential biomarkers for diagnosis and follow-up. The focus of this research is to compare the expression profiles of certain parasite-derived miRNAs in CE patients with active and inactive cysts as well as healthy controls. Parasite-derived miRNAs, egr-let-7-5p, egr-miR-71a-5p, and egr-miR-9-5p, of inactive CE patients were found to be differentially expressed with 3.74-, 2.72-, and 20.78-fold change (p < 0.05), respectively, when compared with active CE patients. In this study, we evaluated for the first time the expression profile of three parasite-derived miRNAs in the serum of CE patients to determine their potential to distinguish between active and inactive CE. It was concluded that serum levels of parasite-derived miRNAs, egr-let-7-5p and egr-miR-9-5p, could be promising new potential biomarkers for stage-specific diagnosis of CE. Further studies are needed with larger sample set to validate discriminating potential of these miRNAs.