Differential Expression of Urinary Exosomal miRNA in Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy and Evaluation of its Diagnostic Value

Urinary exosomal miRNA is an ideal non-invasive biomarker of renal disease, but little is known about its ability to diagnose idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical value of urinary exosomal miRNAs in IMN. Urine samples were collected from 36 IMN patients and 36 healthy subjects. Some samples were used to analyze the miRNA profiles of urinary exosomes by high-throughput sequencing. The remaining cases were verified by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Additionally, the serum of the patients and healthy people was collected, and the clinical parameters were detected. Through high-throughput sequencing of samples, it was found that 20 miRNAs were markedly down-regulated. MiR-9-5p and miR-30b-5p were selected for verification, and the results were consistent with those of high-throughput sequencing. MiR-9-5p was correlated with the level of triglyceride and estimated glomerular filtration rate. MiR-30b-5p was related to the levels of anti-phospholipase A2 receptor antibody, serum albumin, beta 2-microglobulin and the ratio of global sclerosis/observed glomeruli number. The analysis of Receiver Operating Characteristic curves revealed that miR-30b-5p and miR-9-5p showed a potential diagnostic value for IMN. This study showed that there were significant differences in urinary exosome miRNA profiles between IMN patients and healthy persons. MiR-30b-5p and miR-9-5p may become new non-invasive biomarkers of IMN.

Automated summary

Urinary exosomal miRNAs show potential diagnostic value for idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN), with miR-30b-5p and miR-9-5p being identified as potential non-invasive biomarkers.