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CompletedNCT05739513CoV-miRUpdated Mar 17, 2023

A Specific miRNA Encoded by SARS-CoV-2 as a Diagnostic Tool to Predict Disease Severity in COVID-19 Patients

An interventional study of miRNA analysis in plasma in COVID-19, sponsored by Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS. Completed at 1 site in Italy. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 90 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-03-17.

Sponsored by Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS · Not applicable, Interventional, and Screening

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 2 years 2 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Dec 2020, registered Feb 2023).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
120
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years to 90 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Coronavirus disease is caused by SARS-CoV-2, known as 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). To date has caused a large number of deaths causing serious respiratory illness such as pneumonia and lung failure, therefore representing a serious threat to public health. The etiological agent belongs to the subfamily Orthocoronavirinae in the family Coronaviridae, Order Nidovirales. The genome of coronaviruses is composed of an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA with a size varying between 26 kb and 32 kb, becoming the largest genome of known RNA viruses so far. Similar to RNA viruses, this family is characterized by genetic variability and high recombination rate that enable them to be easily distributed among humans and animals worldwide. Considering the huge impact of the pandemic, it is urgent to gain understanding and to build strategies to contain the viral spread. To date, different diagnostic kits for testing the illness are available. Besides diagnosis, the prediction of the severity and prognosis of COVID-19 is essential to stratify patients and allocate them in the adequate medical facilities so as to reduce mortality rates. It has been reported that microRNAs (miRNAs) are valuable biomarkers for disease diagnosis, prognosis and classification. MiRNAs are defined as a class of non-coding RNAs that are able to regulate gene expression by specific binding to complementary regions in coding messenger RNAs, leading to translational repression or decay. Not only that, but also they can be important modulators of viral infections.Previous studies have revealed the presence of miRNA-like small RNAs (milRNAs), which can be encoded by RNA viruses and can actively disrupt the host innate immune responses in order to create a favourable environment for viral replication. On the other side, cellular miRNAs can also play a role on virus replication and pathogenesis.In this case, this pilot project is aimed at their valuable diagnostic potential, in order to diagnose and stratify patients under viral infection. The project came up after receiving information from a Chinese research group, requesting their results to be replicated in Caucasian population. The ROC curves were constructed to demonstrate the accuracy of this specific miRNA in COVID-19 patient stratification and discerning between severe patients from healthy controls. Both ROC curves suggested the miRNA as precise biomarker for differential diagnosis and prognosis of disease severity.

Read the detailed description

It will include 120 patients with and without COVID-19 According to the World Health Organization guidance, all patients with COVID-19 enrolled in the study were diagnosed bythe throat swab and RT-PCR method. Patient information was collected from medical records.Total RNA content will be extracted from plasma samples by methods aimed at preserving and isolating small RNA molecules. The kit used will be. mirVANATM PARISTM Isolation Kit (Applied Biosystems, Darmstadt, Germany). The mirVANATM PARISTM Kit begins with homogenization of samples with a special cell disruption buffer and RNA isolation is performed using a procedure that combines the advantages of organic and solid-phase extraction. Once extracted, a fixed volume of RNA solution will be used as the input for the reverse transcription reaction using the TaqMan™ MicroRNA Reverse Transcription Kit (Applied Biosystems, Darmstadt, Germany). The product will be further amplified by real-time PCR using specific primers for the detection of the milRNA previously validated by means of the LightCycler® 480 Real-Time PCR System (Roche Diagnostics, Barcelona, Spain).

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Conditions studied

  • COVID-19

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03

In context

COVID-19

7,640 studies on the registry are indexed under COVID-19; 488 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 120 is above the median of 100 across 4,099 interventional studies indexed under COVID-19.

Browse COVID-19 studies →

Lead sponsor

Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS is the lead sponsor of 920 studies on the registry; 529 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 90 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • patient with Covid -19

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • age \< 18 years
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Screening
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
120 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Other
    Patients with COVID-19

    blood sampling for miRNA analysis

    Diagnostic Test: miRNA analysis in plasma

  • Other
    Patients without COVID-19

    blood sampling for miRNA analysis

    Diagnostic Test: miRNA analysis in plasma

Interventions

  • Diagnostic testmiRNA analysis in plasma

    blood sample

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. miRNA analysis in plasma

    Replicate in our Caucasian cohort previous findings which are under revision in The New England Journal of Medicine, where a miRNA-like small RNA encoded by SARSCoV- 2, has been reported to distinguish severe patients from mild ones and predict the prognosis of COVID-19

    Time frame: 1 year

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Study locations

1 site
  • Mingrone Geltrude
    Roma, 00168, Italy
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References and documents

Publications

  • Amawi H, Abu Deiab GI, A Aljabali AA, Dua K, Tambuwala MM. COVID-19 pandemic: an overview of epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnostics and potential vaccines and therapeutics. Ther Deliv. 2020 Apr;11(4):245-268. doi: 10.4155/tde-2020-0035. Epub 2020 May 12. PubMed 32397911 ↗
  • Li H, Liu SM, Yu XH, Tang SL, Tang CK. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): current status and future perspectives. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2020 May;55(5):105951. doi: 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105951. Epub 2020 Mar 29. PubMed 32234466 ↗
  • Tu YF, Chien CS, Yarmishyn AA, Lin YY, Luo YH, Lin YT, Lai WY, Yang DM, Chou SJ, Yang YP, Wang ML, Chiou SH. A Review of SARS-CoV-2 and the Ongoing Clinical Trials. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Apr 10;21(7):2657. doi: 10.3390/ijms21072657. PubMed 32290293 ↗
  • Henry BM, de Oliveira MHS, Benoit S, Plebani M, Lippi G. Hematologic, biochemical and immune biomarker abnormalities associated with severe illness and mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): a meta-analysis. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2020 Jun 25;58(7):1021-1028. doi: 10.1515/cclm-2020-0369. PubMed 32286245 ↗
  • Ortega FJ, Mercader JM, Catalan V, Moreno-Navarrete JM, Pueyo N, Sabater M, Gomez-Ambrosi J, Anglada R, Fernandez-Formoso JA, Ricart W, Fruhbeck G, Fernandez-Real JM. Targeting the circulating microRNA signature of obesity. Clin Chem. 2013 May;59(5):781-92. doi: 10.1373/clinchem.2012.195776. Epub 2013 Feb 8. PubMed 23396142 ↗
  • Pirola CJ, Fernandez Gianotti T, Castano GO, Mallardi P, San Martino J, Mora Gonzalez Lopez Ledesma M, Flichman D, Mirshahi F, Sanyal AJ, Sookoian S. Circulating microRNA signature in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: from serum non-coding RNAs to liver histology and disease pathogenesis. Gut. 2015 May;64(5):800-12. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2014-306996. Epub 2014 Jun 27. PubMed 24973316 ↗
  • Baek D, Villen J, Shin C, Camargo FD, Gygi SP, Bartel DP. The impact of microRNAs on protein output. Nature. 2008 Sep 4;455(7209):64-71. doi: 10.1038/nature07242. Epub 2008 Jul 30. PubMed 18668037 ↗
  • Canatan D, De Sanctis V. The impact of MicroRNAs (miRNAs) on the genotype of coronaviruses. Acta Biomed. 2020 May 11;91(2):195-198. doi: 10.23750/abm.v91i2.9534. PubMed 32420944 ↗
  • Pfeffer S, Zavolan M, Grasser FA, Chien M, Russo JJ, Ju J, John B, Enright AJ, Marks D, Sander C, Tuschl T. Identification of virus-encoded microRNAs. Science. 2004 Apr 30;304(5671):734-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1096781. PubMed 15118162 ↗
  • Morales L, Oliveros JC, Fernandez-Delgado R, tenOever BR, Enjuanes L, Sola I. SARS-CoV-Encoded Small RNAs Contribute to Infection-Associated Lung Pathology. Cell Host Microbe. 2017 Mar 8;21(3):344-355. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2017.01.015. Epub 2017 Feb 16. PubMed 28216251 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Mar 17, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05739513
Lead sponsor
Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS
Responsible party
Mingrone Geltrude (professor, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 22, 2023
Start date
Dec 7, 2020
Primary completion
Jul 1, 2021
Completion
Jul 12, 2021
Last update
Mar 17, 2023

Study contacts

geltrude mingrone, professor
principal investigator · Policlinico A. Gemelli IRCCS

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Mar 2023. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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