MicroRNA (miRNA) is a small section of ribonucleic acid (RNA) that reduces the protein formation by making the pair of the complementary piece of mRNA. The genes of miRNA are present as transcriptional or polycistronic units in the chromosomes. The cellular multiplication, separation and existence like the multitude of genetic functions are affected by miRNA. Nearly 50% of identified miRNA are located in the residence in the intronic part of the genes. The mature miRNA is yielded in two steps. Drosha and RNA-induced silencing complex are the catalysts that play an important role in miRNA synthesis. The miRNA may function by just hindering the translation or complete vitiation of miRNA that occurs to control the genes. The microRNA antagonists and miRNA mimics are therapeutics approaches for the treatment of abnormalities. The upregulation and downregulation of miRNAs are linked to a number of diseases as miR-122 is associated with viral hepatitis, and some members of let-7 and other miRNAs are concerned with various diseases. Overexpressed miRNAs may function as both oncogenes and regulator of cellular processes. The miRNA functions can be altered by single-point mutations in miRNA target and epigenetic silencing of transcription units. There are numerous molecular targets for miRNA as degradation by nuclease and phosphodiesterase. Thus, miRNA has potential applications in disease diagnosis along with therapy, but the mechanisms involved in miRNA systems and its targeted delivery of miRNA are much more important to achieve its therapeutic applications.

Objective:The study aimed to develop a national reference on birth weight-specific neonatal survival in the State of Qatar to facilitate parental counseling.Study Design:This was a retrospective, analytic, and comparative study.Materials and Methods:The birth weight-specific neonatal mortality data for the years 2003 and 2010, collected from the admission and discharge registers of the neonatal intensive care unit, were stratified using the stratifications given in Vermont Oxford Network (VON) 2007 annual report. Category-wise birth weight-specific mortality and relative risk (RR) of death were compared between Qatar data (2003 and 2010) and VON 2007 report.Results:Qatar's neonatal mortality rate (NMR) dropped from 5 of 1000 in 2003 to 4.4 of 1000 in 2010 (P=0.443) which was significant for birth weight categories 501–750 g and 751–1000 g (P=0.026 and P=0.05, respectively). Qatar's NMR in 2010 was significantly lower than VON's NMR during 2007 (P<0.001) though VON's NMR was significantly lower among birth weight categories 751–1000 g and 1001–1500 g (P=0.001 and P=0.003, respectively). The RR of mortality decreased with increasing birth weight. The decline was very sharp for birth weight categories between 500 and 1500g. The RR was 25 times higher in babies with birth weight less than 750 g as compared to babies with birth weight ≥ 2550 g, both in Qatar and VON data. For birth weight categories 751–1000 g and 1001–1500 g, the RR was twice in Qatar as compared to the VON report (16.8 versus 7.8, and 5.5 versus 2.7, respectively).Conclusions:Qatar's current overall and birth weight-specific NMRs are comparable with the VON report except in birth weight categories 751–1000 g and 1001–1500 g which were higher in Qatar. This needs further in-depth qualitative analysis.

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