ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Akram Hadi Hamza Albdairi1, Jawhar Gharbi2, Noureddine Chatti1 and Manel Ben M’hadheb2
1Genomic, Biotechnology and Antiviral Strategies Research Unit (UR1ES30), DNA Analysis and Sequencing Unit of Common Services for Research (USCR-SAG), Higher Institute of Biotechnology, University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia.
2Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia.
Article Number: 10376 | © The Author(s). 2025
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2025;19(4):3233-3240. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.19.4.65
Received: 11 March 2025 | Accepted: 30 September 2025 | Published online: 08 December 2025
Issue online: December 2025
Abstract

This study investigated the expression profiles of two specific microRNAs (miRNAs), miR-1271-5p and miR-10a-3p, in patients with bacterial vaginosis (BV) and in healthy controls. One hundred participants (50 patients with BV and 50 controls) were recruited. Bacterial species were identified using multiplex PCR of the 16S rRNA gene from vaginal swabs, and miRNA expression was quantified from blood samples using RT-qPCR. Gardnerella vaginalis was the most prevalent species (66.0%) in patients with BV. The expression levels of miR-1271-5p and miR-10a-3p were significantly higher in patients with BV than in healthy controls (p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curves revealed promising diagnostic values: an miR-1271-5p cutoff of <5.42-fold achieved 94.0% sensitivity and specificity (area under the curve (AUC), 0.951), whereas an miR-10a-3p cutoff of <3.57-fold showed 96.0% sensitivity and 92.0% specificity (AUC, 0.970). Interestingly, miR-1271-5p and miR-10a-3p levels were the highest in patients with Megasphaera colonization. Thus, miR-1271-5p and miR-10a-3p are potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of BV and offer high diagnostic value. These miRNAs may play a crucial role in understanding BV pathogenesis and serve as targets for future diagnostic strategies.

Keywords

miRNAs, miR-1271-5p, miR-10a-3p, Expression, Bacterial Vaginosis

Article Metrics

Article View: 199

Share This Article

© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.