Association and exploratory clinical significance of peripheral blood mononuclear cell microRNA-155 with T-Cell subset imbalance in newly diagnosed paediatric immune thrombocytopenia

Objective To investigate the association of peripheral blood mononuclear cell micro RNA-155 miR-155 expression with T-cell subset imbalance and disease severity in newly diagnosed paediatric immune thrombocytopenia (ITP).Methods Eighty-seven children with newly diagnosed ITP (43 severe, 44 non-severe) and 40 healthy controls were enrolled. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell miR-155 expression was measured via quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; Th1, Th2, Th17 and regulatory T (Treg) cell proportions were detected using whole-blood flow cytometry and expressed as percentages of gated CD3+ CD4+ T cells. Associations and exploratory predictive performance were analysed using Pearson correlation and receiver operating characteristic curves.Results Peripheral blood mononuclear cell miR-155 expression was significantly higher in patients with ITP than in controls and higher in severe than in non-severe ITP (P Conclusion Peripheral blood mononuclear cell miR-155 expression is associated with T-cell subset imbalance and disease severity in newly diagnosed paediatric ITP. The combined immune-cellular indicator may support severe-risk stratification, but prospective validation and functional studies are required.