He J et al. – This study evaluated the differential expression of long non–coding ribonucleic acids (lncRNAs) in plasma from patients with tuberculosis (TB) to detect the molecular biomarkers for rapid diagnosis of TB. Results indicated that lncRNA expression level and 2 validated lncRNAs (ENST00000354432 and ENST00000427151) in plasma could serve as potential molecular biomarkers for rapid diagnosis of TB.

Methods

• Differential expressions of lncRNAs in patients with TB, community–acquired pneumonia, and healthy individuals were evaluated using lncRNA microarray scanning.

Results

• A total of 2116 specific lncRNAs were found to be differentially expressed in the TB–positive samples, accounting for 6.96% of the total lncRNAs.
• A total of 12 differentially expressed lncRNAs discovered in microarray were validated using real–time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.
• Two lncRNAs (ENST00000354432 and ENST00000427151) were validated with more TB samples, which could be potential molecular biomarkers for the rapid diagnosis of TB.