AIM: To explore the expression levels of long non-coding RNA maternally expressed gene 3(lncRNA MEG3)and Micro RNA-138(miR-138)in serum of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration(ARMD)hemorrhage and their relationship with the prognosis of patients.

METHODS: A prospective study. A total of 90 patients with wet ARMD hemorrhage admitted from January 2018 to June 2021 were selected as the observation group, and 78 people who underwent physical examination in our hospital during the same period were selected as the control group. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR)was used to detect the expression levels of serum lncRNA MEG3 and miR-138 in all subjects. Patients in the observation group were injected with Ranibizumab for treatment once a month, for a total of 3 times. The observation group was followed up for 3mo after treatment, and the patients were divided into good prognosis and poor prognosis group.The levels of lncRNA MEG3 and miR-138 were compared between the two groups. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlation between lncRNA MEG3 and miR-138. The receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC)was used to analyze the value of judging the poor prognosis of patients with wet ARMD hemorrhage. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the factors affecting the poor prognosis of patients with wet ARMD hemorrhage.

RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the level of serum lncRNA MEG3 in the observation group decreased(1.13±0.37 vs 0.71±0.21), and the miR-138 level increased(1.05±0.29 vs 2.23±0.54; all P<0.05). The level of serum lncRNA MEG3 of patients with wet ARMD hemorrhage in the good prognosis group was significantly higher than that in the poor prognosis group(0.81±0.24 vs 0.49±0.14), while the level of miR-138 was significantly lower than that in the poor prognosis group(1.92±0.49 vs 2.87±0.63; all P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis results showed that lncRNA MEG3 was negatively correlated with miR-138(r=-0.381, P<0.05). The ROC curve results showed that the AUC of serum lncRNA MEG3 and miR-138 expression levels for the poor prognosis of patients with wet ARMD hemorrhage was 0.859 and 0.828, respectively, the cut-off value was 0.635 and 2.455, respectively, the sensitivity was 89.70% and 75.90%, respectively, and the specificity was 72.10% and 82.00%, respectively. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that lncRNA MEG3 was a protective factor for poor prognosis of patients with wet ARMD hemorrhage, while miR-138 was a risk factor(all P<0.05).

CONCLUSION: Serum lncRNA MEG3 and miR-138 are abnormally expressed in patients with wet ARMD hemorrhage, and they have a certain value in evaluating the poor prognosis of patients with wet ARMD hemorrhage.