Open Access

ARTICLE

Immunomodulatory miRNAs as Potential Biomarkers for the Postoperative Course Following Surgery for the Repair of Congenital Heart Defects in Children

Or Bercovich¹, Tal Tirosh-Wagner², Lior Goldberg¹, Amir Vardi³, David Mishali⁴, Gideon Paret^1,#, Yael Nevo-Caspi^1,*,#

1 Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 5265601, Israel
2 Pediatric Cardiology, Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 5265601, Israel
3 Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care, Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 5265601, Israel
4 Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, Safra Children’s Hospital, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat-Gan, 5265601, Israel
* Corresponding Author: Yael Nevo-Caspi. Email: yael.caspi@sheba.health.gov.il
# Contributed equally to this work

Congenital Heart Disease 2020, 15(4), 239-249. https://doi.org/10.32604/CHD.2020.011576

Received 19 May 2020; Accepted 13 August 2020; Issue published 07 September 2020

Abstract

Objective: To test the hypothesis that circulating miRNAs-146a, -146b, -155, and -21 reflect the inflammatory state of children following heart surgery, and that they may, therefore, correlate with postoperative parameters. We aimed to quantify miRNAs in blood samples from pediatric patients before and 6, 12, and 24 hours after surgery and to evaluate correlations between the miRNA levels and the postoperative course. Setting: PICU. Patients: Forty-two pediatric patients with CHD who underwent cardiac surgery at Safra Children’s Hospital between 2012–2016. Interventions: none. Outcome Measures: The primary outcomes were the postoperative cardiac complications and the secondary outcomes were the length of hospitalization and more than two days of inotropic support. Results: The increase in miRNA-146a and -146b levels correlated with higher troponin, lower lactate, and lower C-reactive protein levels, as well as fewer days on inotropic support, and shorter hospital stay. Conclusions: The increases in the levels of circulating miRNA-146a and miRNA-146b after surgery for the repair of congenital heart defects are potential biomarkers for a better postoperative course in pediatric patients.

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