Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology 1735-1502 19 3 2020 06 23 289 296 Wenjuan Xu Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China Yimin Wang Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China Chen Wang Clinical Laboratory, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China Ying Ma Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China Shaojun He Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China Yanmeng Kang Department of Respiratory Medicine, Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China Jiong Yang Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China 2019 08 22 2020 02 17 Asthma is a common airway inflammation with an intricate underlying mechanism. The role played by circulating miRNAs in asthma remains unclear. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the role of miR-223-3p in leukocytes of asthma and identify the relationship between miR-223-3p and inflammatory cytokines in asthma. Using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), we detected miR-223-3p expression in peripheral blood leukocytes from 23 asthmatic patients and 20 healthy controls. The levels of IFN-γ (Th1 cytokine), IL-4 (Th2 cytokine), IL-17A (Th17 cytokine) in plasma were examined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Spearman’s test was used for statistical analysis. The expression of miR-223-3p in peripheral blood leukocytes was upregulated in the asthmatic patients compared with that in the healthy controls. Increased miR-223-3p expression was associated with forced expiratory volume in 1-second percent predicted (FEV1% predicted). A positive correlation was noted between miR-223-3p and IL-17A. The findings of this study showed that miR-223-3p plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of asthma and can serve as a novel biomarker for asthma. https://ijaai.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijaai/article/view/2497