Altered microRNA expression in COVID-19 patients enables identification of SARS-CoV-2 infection

The host response to SARS-CoV-2 infection provide insights into both viral pathogenesis and patient management. host-encoded microRNA (miRNA) infection, however, remains poorly defined. Here we profiled circulating miRNAs from ten COVID-19 patients sampled longitudinally age gender matched healthy donors. We observed 55 that were altered in during early-stage disease, with the inflammatory miR-31-5p most strongly upregulated. Supervised machine learning analysis revealed a three-miRNA signature (miR-423-5p, miR-23a-3p miR-195-5p) independently classified cases an accuracy of 99.9%. In ferret model, again detected 99.7% accuracy, distinguished influenza A (H1N1) controls 95% accuracy. Distinct miRNA profiles also requiring oxygenation. This study demonstrates induces robust could improve detection