AIM: To investigate the expression changes and significance of serum microRNA-34a-5p(miR-34a-5p)and silent information regulator T1(SIRT1)in patients with endophthalmitis after cataract surgery.

METHODS: Patients with endophthalmitis after cataract surgery from May 2020 to May 2024 were selected as infection group(20 cases), and patients without endophthalmitis were selected as control group(74 cases). Serum SIRT1 levels were detected by ELISA; the serum level of serum miR-34a-5p was detected by qRT-PCR; the correlation between miR-34a-5p and SIRT1 was analyzed by Pearson method; Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of endophthalmitis after cataract operation. Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was drawn to analyze the diagnostic value of serum miR-34a-5p and SIRT1 levels in postoperative endophthalmitis.

RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the serum level of miR-34a-5p in the infected group was significantly increased(P<0.001), and the serum level of SIRT1 was significantly decreased(P<0.001). Correlation analysis showed that miR-34a-5p was negatively correlated with SIRT1(r=-0.421, P<0.001). Logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that miR-34a-5p was an independent risk factor affecting endophthalmitis infection after cataract surgery(OR=3.532, P<0.05), and SIRT1 was a protective factor affecting endophthalmitis infection after cataract surgery(OR=0.875, P<0.05). The ROC curve showed that the area under curve(AUC)of serum miR-34a-5p combined with SIRT1 in the diagnosis of postoperative endophthalmitis was 0.933(95%CI: 0.861-0.975).

CONCLUSION:Serum levels of miR-34a-5p are highly expressed and SIRT1 is lowly expressed in postoperative endophthalmitis, they are closely related to the occurrence and development of endophthalmitis after cataract surgery.