[Serum microRNA-21 usefulness in inflammatory pathology of the colon].

Background: MicroRNAs are 20-22 nucleotide molecular structures with post-transcriptional activity that are involved in the immune response, as well as in the inflammatory pathways of different cells and tissues.

Aims: We present herein a prospective study in which serum microRNA-21 expression was determined in patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis as a model of bowel inflammation.

Material And Methods: A prospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis was conducted. Serum microRNA-21 was analyzed through the PCR of blood samples taken from the patients prior to surgery. MicroRNA-21 values were compared with the analytic variables (leukocytes, hemoglobin, hematocrit, platelets, prothrombin activity, glucose, urea, and creatinine) and the anatomopathologic variables (normal appendix, phlegmonous, gangrenous, and perforated acute appendicitis).

Results: A total of 60 patients with acute appendicitis diagnosis were consecutively included in the study from June to October 2009. Sixty-six percent of the patients were men (40 men and 20 women), with a mean age of 26.2±14.8 years. The mean absolute level of microRNA-21 was 24.8±0.93, whereas the mean microRNA-21 gene expression was 1.04±0.28. No correlation between the analytic and anatomopathologic parameters evaluated was observed (P=.47).

Conclusions: It is necessary to continue to search for the most appropriate microRNAs, so that their determination in serum can lead to greater precision in establishing the diagnosis and outcome of inflammatory disorders of the bowel.