The comparison and evaluation of the miR-16, miR-155 and miR-146a expression pattern in the blood of TB and NSCLC patients: A Research paper

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are two of the major contributor to mortality and morbidity worldwide. TB has symptoms identical to malignancy, therefore, sometimes its diagnosis confused with lung cancer. Several biologic pathways have been identified to be involved in these diseases. The miRNAs are biological molecules that were shown to play essential roles in TB and NSCLC through targeting the related genes. Methods: In this research paper we evaluated the expression pattern of common miRNAs between TB and NSCLC and compared them with healthy controls. MiR-155 and miR-146a were examined using RT-qPCR and mir-16 were used as a reference gene. Additionally, the bioinformatics analysis was performed to confirm the role of miR-155 and miR-146a in signaling pathways of TB and NSCLC through targeting related genes. Results: mir-155 showed higher expression in TB and NSCLC patients than healthy controls (P value = 0.0221 and 0.0214 respectively), whereas mir-146a showed lower expression in TB and NSCLC patients than healthy controls (P value <= 0.0001 and 0.0056 respectively). Conclusions: The results demonstrated that miR-155 and miR-146a can be used as a biomarker for early detection, screening, treatment strategies and clinical management of TB and NSCLC.