Systemic RNA oxidation can be used as a biomarker of infection in challenged with Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Abstract

More and more evidence support the concept that RNA oxidation plays a substantial role in the progress of multiple diseases; however, only a few studies have reported RNA oxidation caused by microbial pathogens. Urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine (8-oxo-Gsn) and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxo-dGsn), which are broadly used as indicators of oxidative damage of RNA and DNA, were analyzed in this study to determine which can be used as a biomarker of infection in challenged with Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus). In this work, 24 specific-pathogen-free (SPF) male SD rats were randomly divided into two groups: an infection group and a phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) control group. Our results proved that 8-oxo-Gsn rather than 8-oxo-dGsn was significantly increased after challenged with V. parahaemolyticus in urine and tissue samples of SD rats compared with the PBS control group. Simultaneously, white blood cells (WBCs) counts, intestinal inflammation and inflammatory factors (including CRP, IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-10, and IL-17A) were also increased sharply. Which has more clinical value is that the trend of urinary 8-oxo-Gsn was consistent with WBCs, intestinal inflammation and all kinds of inflammatory factors. More importantly is that urinary 8-oxo-Gsn of infection group was positively correlated with WBCs and various inflammatory cytokines. In a word, our results demonstrated that as a systemic RNA oxidation biomarker, we hope 8-oxo-Gsn can be used as a biomarker of the severity of microbial pathogens infection, rather than a specific biomarker of microbial pathogens infection.

Keywords:

• Vibrio parahaemolyticus
• RNA oxidation
• biomarkers
• cytokines; inflammation

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the members of the Institute of Geriatrics of the Ministry of Health for their advice and assistance.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Data availability statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences [No. 2018-I2M-1-002], National Key R&D Program of China [2018YFC2000300], National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 81571058], Beijing Gold-Bridge Project [ZZ19059], and Beijing Dongcheng District Outstanding Talent Funding Project [2019DCT-M-11].