LncRNA MEG3 expression in sepsis and its effect on LPS-induced macrophage function

Sepsis is a dangerous disease that is caused by an overreaction of the body's immune system to infection and gradually spreads throughout the body. This experiment was carried out to explore the expression of LncRNA MEG3 in sepsis and its effect on LPS-induced macrophage function. Methods 60 sepsis patients admitted to our hospital from February 2017 to September 2018 were selected as the sepsis group, and 50 non-septic patients diagnosed and treated in our hospital during the same period were selected as the control group. qRT-PCR was used to detect the expression level of MEG3. ROC curve was used to analyze the diagnostic value of serum MEG3 in sepsis. The human macrophage cell line U937 was cultured in vitro and randomly divided into NC group, LPS group, LPS + pcDNA group, and LPS + pcDNA-MEG3 group. Flow cytometry was applied to detect the apoptosis rate. The levels of IL-1 beta and TNF-alpha were detected by ELISA. Western blot was used to detect the expression of Bax, Bcl-2 and NF-kappa B signaling pathway-related proteins p65 and p-p65. Results: The expression level of serum MEG3 in the sepsis group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P