# The identification of a blood circular RNA signature that differentiates Chikungunya virus infection

## TL;DR

This study identifies a set of blood circular RNAs that can help detect Chikungunya virus infection early.

## Contribution

A novel 13-circRNA blood signature for early diagnosis of Chikungunya virus infection is developed and validated.

## Key findings

- A 13-circRNA signature discriminates CHIKV-infected patients from healthy controls.
- The circRNA signature correlates with viral load in CHIKV-infected patients.
- The identified circRNAs are linked to immune processes against CHIKV infection.

## Abstract

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a re-emerging mosquito-borne human pathogen, which poses critical threats to the public health. However, an effective diagnostic method for early CHIKV infection remains scarce. Circular RNAs (CircRNAs) are a novel class of RNAs with important biological functions. They have been shown to be promising biomarkers for many human diseases. In this study, we sought to identify circRNA biomarkers in human peripheral whole blood for the early diagnosis of CHIKV infection.

Candidate circRNA biomarkers were identified by group comparison using a case-control study, which was further validated using an independent cohort. The performance of this signature and its correlation with clinical factors were estimated in both cohorts.

Using two public RNA-seq datasets of CHIKV infection, we developed and validated a 13-circRNA based blood signature that can discriminate CHIKV infectious patients from healthy controls. Furthermore, this blood circRNA signature was correlated with viral load in patients with CHIKV infection. Functional analysis implicated that these biomarker circRNAs were involved in the activation and regulation of immune processes against CHIKV infection.

Collectively, our findings indicated that peripheral blood circRNAs were potential biomarkers for the early diagnosis of CHIKV infection.