Poster Presentation 2018 Hunter Cell Biology Meeting

Circulating microRNA profiling identifies novel biomarkers for acute kidney injury following ingestion of oxalic acid and potassium permanganate (#108)

Fathima Shihana Haniffa Salahudeen 1 2 , Mugdha V Joglekar 3 , Anandwardhan A Hardikar 3 , Devanshi Seth 4 5 , Nicholas A Buckley 1 2
  1. Discipline of Pharmacology, University of Sydney, Department of Pharmacology, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
  2. South Asian Clinical Toxicology of Research Collaboration, Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
  3. Diabetes and Islet Biology Group, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
  4. Discipline of Clinical Medicine & Addiction Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
  5. Drug Health Services, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine & Cell Biology, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

Background: Early detection of acute kidney injury (AKI) is difficult due to lack of known sensitive and specific biomarkers. MicroRNAs are abundant and highly stable in blood as powerful circulating biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of various diseases. This study aims to identify signature microRNAs as early biomarkers to distinguish AKI in patients following oxalic acid and potassium permanganate poisoning.

Method: Serum samples from age and gender matched patients with progressive stages of AKI from oxalic acid and potassium permanganate ingestion (NOAKI=4, AKIN1=4, AKIN2=4, AKIN3=4 & Follow Up=4) and healthy controls (n=4) were used. Total RNA was isolated from 100ml serum using the miRNeasy Mini Kit and 100 ng of RNA was used for pre-amplification. We profiled microRNAs using TaqMan OpenArray, ultra-high content platform for quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Diluted samples were combined with TaqMan OpenArray PCR Master Mix and loaded onto TaqMan OpenArray Human MicroRNA Panel. qPCR results were analysed using the QuantStudio 12K Flex.  

Results: We identified a total of 212 differentially expressed microRNAs in patient serum samples compared to healthy controls and follow up samples. 25 microRNAs were significantly downregulated (p<0.001) in AKI patients compared with healthy control. Comparison of NoAKI versus AKI patients showed 22 dysregulated microRNAs.  Compared to healthy controls, number of differentially expressed miRNAs increased with disease severity (5 in AKIN1, 20 in AKIN2, 34 in AKIN3). Some previously identified miRNAs related to oxidative stress (miR-7, miR-26a, miR-29a, miR-30c) and Ca++ channel (miR-192, miR-15/16, miR-25, miR-574-5p, miR-374, miR-320) were significantly dysregulated in severe AKI patient’s samples

Conclusion: Circulating miRNAs are altered in patients with kidney injury and can be used as diagnostic markers for acute kidney injury following ingestion of oxalic acid and potassium permanganate.