Effect of miR-10a on sepsis-induced liver injury in rats through TGF-beta 1/Smad signaling pathway

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of the micro ribonucleic acid (miR)-10a on sepsis-induced liver injury in rats through the transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1)/Smad signaling pathway. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The rat model of sepsis was established via cecal ligation and puncture, in which miR-10a was overexpressed and silenced using liposome transfection. The rats were randomly divided into miR-10a mimics group (Mimics group, n=10) and miR-10a inhibitors group (Inhibitors group, n=10), and the sham operation group (Sham group, n=10) was also set up. The transfection efficiency of miR-10a in liver tissues in each group was detected via quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR), the serum liver function indexes aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were determined. Moreover, the content of the serum reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione (GSH), and GSH peroxidase (GSHPx) was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The content of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and myeloperoxidase (MPO) in liver tissues was detected, and the pathological changes in liver tissues were observed through hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. Finally, the expression levels of cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1) and TGF-beta 1/Smad signaling pathway genes and proteins in liver tissues were detected via qRT-PCR and Western blotting. RESULTS: The expression of miR-10a was significantly increased in Mimics group (p<0.05) and extremely low in the Inhibitors group (p<0.05). In Mimics group, the levels of serum AST, ALT, and LDH were significantly increased (p<0.05), the content of ROS, TNF-alpha, IL-6, and MPO was substantially increased (p<0.05), while that of GSH and GSH-Px notably declined (p< 0.05). According to the HE staining results, the liver cells were orderly arranged in the Inhibitors group, and they were disorderly arranged with more inflammatory cells in the Mimics group. The results of the gene and protein assays showed that the expression levels of CYP2E1, TGF-beta 1, and Smad2 in Mimics group were markedly higher than those in the Sham group (p<0.05), while they displayed the opposite trends in the Inhibitors group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Silencing miR-10a can inhibit the occurrence of sepsis-induced liver injury in rats by downregulating the TGF-beta 1/Smad pathway.