miR-425-5p in the early diagnosis of neonatal brain injury and its involvement in the inflammatory response of brain injury via WTAP.

OBJECTIVES

Neonatal brain injury (NBI) is one of the common acute and critical illnesses that lead to neonatal death and disability. This article aims to explore miR-425-5p in neonates with different degrees of brain injury and its potential molecular mechanism.

METHOD: The researchers used RT-qPCR to measure the level of miR-425-5p in NBI serum and evaluated its diagnostic and predictive capabilities for NBI severity through ROC curve and multivariate logistic regression analysis. In vitro experiments, the effect of miR-425-5p on lipopolysaccharide-induced microglial cell viability was detected using the CCK8 assay, while inflammation and oxidative stress levels were evaluated via ELISA. Finally, the relationship between miR-425-5p and wilms tumor 1-associating protein (WTAP) was verified using dual-luciferase assay and Pearson correlation analysis.

RESULTS

miR-425-5p was significantly reduced in the group of neonates with moderate to severe brain injury. miR-425-5p demonstrates excellent diagnostic efficacy for the severity of brain injury (AUC = 0.842) and can serve as a potential protective factor for neonates with brain injury. In LPS-induced microglial cells, miR-425-5p-mimic enhanced cell viability, reduced the release of inflammatory factors, and attenuated oxidative stress levels. Meanwhile, WTAP is a direct target of miR-425-5p, and the two exhibit a negative correlation.

CONCLUSIONS

miR-425-5p is lowly expressed in the group of moderate to severe neonatal brain injury and may participate in the inflammatory response of brain injury through WTAP.