Peripheral blood mononuclear cell microRNA profiles in syphilitic patients with serofast status

Abstract Background Syphilis is a chronic sexually transmitted disease caused by infection with Treponema pallidum, which can invade various system organs, leading to clinical manifestations such as neurosyphilis, ocular syphilis, and cardiovascular syphilis and seriously endangering human health. Serofast status is a common outcome after syphilis treatment that presents an important clinical problem. At present, the etiology of serofast status remains unknown. Methods A systematic investigation of the microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with serofast status or secondary syphilis and of healthy control subjects was conducted using small RNA-seq. The expression of miRNAs was further confirmed by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays. Results The data reveal a specific miRNA expression profile that was displayed in cells from patients with serofast status. Known and novel predicted (np)-miRNAs were also identified and verified, such as miR-338-5p, np-miR-163, np-miR-128, np-miR-244, and np-miR-5, which together may be used as indicators for treatment evaluation. The functions of genes targeted by the miRNAs differentially expressed in serofast status patients were further analyzed; these genes were found to be involved in various biological functions, such as T-cell receptor signaling pathways, metabolism, and growth. Our study presents the first systematic landscape of miRNAs in PBMCs from patients with serofast status and proposes specific miRNAs linked with serofast status that merit further investigation as potential biomarkers. Conclusion Our results provide further evidence that serofast status is closely related to host immune function. Additionally, the miRNA expression profile in PBMCs of patients with serofast status generated by this work offers insight into the complex immune network in humans. We hope our results can inspire the development of new treatment options for patients with serofast status.