Circular RNA FUNDC1 improves prediction of stroke associated infection in acute ischemic stroke patients with high risk

Abstract

Identifying those patients who were at high risk of stroke associated infection (SAI) for preventive antibiotic therapy was imperative for patients’ benefits, thus improving prediction of SAI was critical for all acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. Circular RNA FUNDC1 (circFUNDC1) has been reported to be the diagnosis and prognosis biomarker of AIS. Therefore, the present study aimed to figure out whether circFUNDC1 could be the potential predictor of SAI that could help to guide preventive treatment. In total, 68 patients were included in the study, 26 of which had infection and 42 without. Copy number of circFUNDC1 in plasma were quantified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Platelet spike-in experiment and correlation analysis were conducted to explore possible origins of circFUNDC1 in plasma. A significantly elevated level of circFUNDC1 was found in SAI patients compared with not infected AIS patients (P=0.0258). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves demonstrated the prediction significance of circFUNDC1, with the area under the curve (AUC) at 0.6612 and sensitivity, specificity at 69.23%, 61.90% respectively in predicting SAI. Then, when adding circFUNDC1 in the risk model, the AUC increased from 0.7971 in model A to 0.8038 in model B. Additionally, positive correlation was observed between circFUNDC1 level and neutrophils counts. WBC and neutrophil ratios were significantly elevated in SAI patients compared with non-SAI patients. Therefore, circFUNDC1 could be used to construct a risk model for the prediction of SAI that is beneficial for AIS patients’ preventive treatment.

Circular RNA FUNDC1 for Prediction of Acute Phase Outcome and Long-Term Survival of Acute Ischemic Stroke

“…As reported in our previous study, neutrophils might be important origins of elevated circFUNDC1 levels in the plasma of AIS patients (28). In addition, FUNDC1, encoded by the host gene of circFUNDC1, has been verified to contribute to hypoxiainduced mitophagy as a mitochondrial membrane protein (29).…”

The potential of using blood circular RNA as liquid biopsy biomarker for human diseases

“… 0.802 Microarray RT-qPCR Zhang et al ( 2018c ) SAI CircFUNDC1 Plasma Up 26 AIS with SAI/42 AIS without SAI Associated with neutrophils counts, white blood cell and neutrophil ratios. 0.661 RT-qPCR Zuo et al ( 2020 ) SCC CircFoxO3a Serum Down 103 SCC/30 HC Associated with stromal invasion, LNM and prognosis. NA RT-qPCR Tang et al ( 2020 ) SCLC CircFLI1 Serum derived exosome Up 61 SCLC/55 HC Associated with tumor survival and chemotherapy response.…”

Impact of CircRNAs on Ischemic Stroke

“…Identifying individuals at high risk of stroke-related infection (SAI) for preventive antibiotic treatment is essential for patients with AIS. Therefore, to determine whether circFUNDC1 may be a potential predictor of SAI, Zuo et al [ 45 ] investigated 68 patients, of which 26 were infected and 42 were not. Compared to uninfected AIS patients, the level of circFUNDC1 in SAI patients was significantly elevated.…”