Circulating miRNAs are stably existed in serum and plasma and can serve as a novel class of biomarkers for the diagnosis of helminthic infection. Fasciola gigantica, the causative agents of fascioliasis, live in the liver of in humans and ruminants, especially cattle, goat and sheep. In this study, a total of 121 host circulating miRNAs were differentially expressed (2 ≥ fold change, p < 0.05), of which 44 miRNAs were up-regulated and 77 miRNAs were significantly down-regulated. Consistent with the sequencing data, qRT-PCR results showed that the expression levels of bta-miR-21-5p and bta-miR-23a were elevated gradually and bta-miR-125a was decreased gradually at the F. gigantica infection time points. Four F. gigantica-specific miRNAs, including three known miRNAs (fgi-miR-87, fgi-miR-71, and fgi-miR-124), and one novel miRNA (novel miR-1) were identified in the sera of F. gigantica-infected buffaloes. Further analyses demonstrated that two parasite-derived miRNAs (fgi-miR-87 and fgi-miR-71) were specifically detected in sera of F. gigantica-infected buffaloes. These findings will be helpful to understand the roles of circulating miRNAs in host-parasite interaction and to potentiate serum miRNAs as diagnostic targets for F. gigantica.

循环miRNA在血清和血浆中稳定存在，可以作为一类新型的生物标志物，用于诊断蠕虫感染。巨大筋膜病的病原体Fasciola gigantica生活在人类和反刍动物的肝脏中，尤其是牛，山羊和绵羊。在这项研究中，共有121个宿主循环miRNA差异表达（变化2倍，p <0.05），其中44个miRNA被上调，而77个miRNA被显着下调。与定序数据一致，qRT-PCR的结果显示，BTA-的miR-21-5p和BTA-的miR-23a的表达水平逐渐升至和BTA-的miR-125a的混合物在所述逐渐减小F.吸虫感染的时间点。四个巨无霸特定的miRNA，包括三个已知的miRNA（fgi-miR-87，fgi-miR-71和fgi-miR-124），以及一种新颖的miRNA（新型miR-1），已被巨人链球菌感染。水牛。进一步的分析表明，在感染巨巨球藻的水牛血清中特异性检测到两个寄生虫来源的miRNA（fgi-miR-87和fgi-miR-71）。这些发现将有助于理解循环的miRNA在宿主-寄生虫相互作用中的作用，并增强血清miRNA作为巨球藻的诊断靶标。