Catalin Vasilescu, Simona Rossi, Masayoshi Shimizu, Stefan Tudor, Angelo Veronese, Manuela Ferracin, Milena S. Nicoloso, Elisa Barbarotto, Monica Popa, Oana Stanciulea, Michael H. Fernandez, Dan Tulbure, Carlos E. Bueso-Ramos, Massimo Negrini, George A. Calin

The physiopathology of sepsis continues to be poorly understood, and despite recent advances in its management, sepsis is still a life-threatening condition with a poor outcome. If new diagnostic markers related to sepsis pathogenesis will be identified, new specific therapies might be developed and mortality reduced. Small regulatory non-coding RNAs, microRNAs (miRNAs), were recently linked to various diseases; the aim of our prospective study was to identify miRNAs that can differentiate patients with early-stage sepsis from healthy controls and to determine if miRNA levels correlate with the severity assessed by the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score.