Immunomodulation of cytokine signalling at feto-maternal interface by microRNA-223 and −150–5p in infection-associated spontaneous preterm birth

Spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) is a global health concern and it is the most prevalent cause of infant mortality and morbidity with occurrence rate of 5 - 18% worldwide. Studies suggest infection and infection-driven activation of inflammatory responses are the potential risk factors for sPTB. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are thought to control the expression of several immune genes, making them crucial components of the intricate immune regulatory network and the dysregulation of miRNAs in placenta has been associated to several pregnancy-related complications. However, studies on possible role of miRNAs in immunomodulation of cytokine signalling in infection-associated sPTB are scarce. Present study aimed to investigate expression/ correlation of a few circulating miRNAs (miR-223, -150-5p, -185-5p, -191-5p), miRNA target genes and associated cytokines in sPTB women found infected with Chlamydia trachomatis/ Mycoplasma hominis/ Ureaplasma urealyticum. Non-heparinized blood and placental sample were collected from 140 sPTB and 140 term women visiting Safdarjung hospital, New Delhi (India) for conducting PCR and RT-PCR for pathogen detection and miRNA/ target gene/ cytokine expression, respectively. Common target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs were obtained from databases. The correlation between select target genes/ cytokines and serum miRNAs was determined by Spearman's rank correlation. 43 sPTB were infected with either pathogen and a significant upregulation of serum miRNAs was observed. However, miR-223 and 150-5p showed maximum fold-change (4.78 and 5.58, respectively) in PTB versus control group. IL-6ST, TGF-β R3 and MMP-14 were important target genes among 454 common targets, whereas, IL-6 and TGF-β were associated cytokines. miR-223 and 150-5p showed significant negative correlation with IL-6ST/ IL-6/ MMP-14 and positive correlation with TGF-β R3/ TGF-β. A significant positive correlation was found between IL-6ST and IL-6, TGF-β R3 and TGF-β. However, miR-185-5p and 191-5p were not significantly correlated. Although post-transcriptional validation is required, yet on the basis of mRNA findings, the study concludes that miR-223 and 150-5p are apparently of clinical importance in regulation of inflammatory processes during infection-associated sPTB.