High Throughput Screening of Differentially Expressed Cytokines of Cerebrospinal Fluid to Predict the Progression of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Abstract Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) usually has a good prognosis, but in a small number of serious neurological complications can also occur especially to those younger than 3 years old children. Therefore, early diagnosis of hand, foot and mouth disease is very important to improve the cure rate of children with severe HFMD. In this study, we determined to find new potential disease-related indicators in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to predict the progression and prognosis of HFMD. We collected CSF samples from mild or severe HFMD in the acute phage. The 1000 cytokines in CSF samples were analyzed using the Raybiotec Cytokine array, then Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were carried out to evaluate the related biological process and potential signaling pathways. We successfully screened 9 DEPs, including CCL5, IL17c, EDAR, TACI, Nectin1, VCAM1, SIGLEC1, CD69 and ROBO4 in the CSF, which may be potential biomarkers for predicting disease progression and prognosis. CD69 and ROBO4 might be a specific indicator suggesting severe HFMD, while elevated expression of NECTIN1 might suggest disease improve, highlighting the potential to predict remission.