Analysis of microRNA expression profiles involved oxidative stress in a deep tissue pressure injury

Abstract Objective: To investigate the association between oxidative stress and the development of deep tissue pressure injury (DTPI) at the genetic level by analyzing microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles in DTPI tissues. Methods: A model of DTPI was established in three adult mice and three elderly mice, while another set of three adult mice and three elderly mice was used as controls. Wound tissues were stained with hematoxylin and eosin to observe the histological changes, and total RNA was extracted for high-throughput sequencing. Differentially expressed oxidative stress-related miRNAs were screened, and target genes were predicted using TargetScan (v5.0) and Miranda (v3.3a). Enrichment analysis of these genes was executed using the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases. Selected differentially expressed miRNAs were further validated by qRT-PCR. Results: The results showed that 128 miRNAs were associated with oxidative stress, among which 86 were down-regulated, and 42 were upregulated in the DTPI-elderly group; 21 were differentially expressed in the DTPI-adult group ( P ＜0.05). Moreover, the miRNA associated with oxidation stress between the two groups was miR-181a-1-3p. Its target genes mainly regulated MAPK and AGE pathways. qRT-PCR results showed that miR-181a-1-3p and miR-21a-5p were significantly downregulated in DTPI tissues. Conclusion: By analyzing miRNA expression profiles related to oxidative stress via a high-throughput sequencing system, this study sheds light on the potential pathological mechanisms underpinning DTPI.