Circulating Small RNA Profiling of Patients with Alveolar and Cystic Echinococcosis

CUCHER, MARCELA A.; MARICONTI, MARA; MANCIULLI, TOMMASO; VOLA, AMBRA; ROSENZVIT, MARA C.; BREHM, KLAUS; KAMENETZKY, LAURA; BRUNETTI, ENRICO

Biology

MDPI

Lugar: Basel; Año: 2023 vol. 12 p. 1 - 20

Alveolar (AE) and cystic (CE) echinococcosis are two parasitic diseases caused by thetapeworms Echinococcus multilocularis and E. granulosus sensu lato (s. l.), respectively. Currently,AE and CE are mainly diagnosed by means of imaging techniques, serology, and clinical andepidemiological data. However, no viability markers that indicate parasite state during infectionare available. Extracellular small RNAs (sRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that can be secreted bycells through association with extracellular vesicles, proteins, or lipoproteins. Circulating sRNAs canshow altered expression in pathological states; hence, they are intensively studied as biomarkers forseveral diseases. Here, we profiled the sRNA transcriptomes of AE and CE patients to identify novelbiomarkers to aid in medical decisions when current diagnostic procedures are inconclusive. Forthis, endogenous and parasitic sRNAs were analyzed by sRNA sequencing in serum from diseasenegative, positive, and treated patients and patients harboring a non-parasitic lesion. Consequently,20 differentially expressed sRNAs associated with AE, CE, and/or non-parasitic lesion were identified.Our results represent an in-depth characterization of the effect E. multilocularis and E. granulosus s. l.exert on the extracellular sRNA landscape in human infections and provide a set of novel candidatebiomarkers for both AE and CE detection.