Abstract： Objective To analyze the expression of miRNA-29a in U937 macrophages infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its regulation of target genes.Methods The target genes of miRNA-29a were predicted with softwares miRnada,RNAhybrid and targetscan.The differentiation of U937 macrophages was induced by phorbol ester(PMA), the induced U937 cells were infected with bacilli calmette guerin (BCG).The expression levels of miRNA-29a and its target genes in U937 cells were detected with real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(RT-fqPCR).The miRNA-29a over-and low-expression U937 macrophage cell lines were constructed and the levels of miRNA-29a and its garget genes were detected.The SPSS 18.0 software was used to analyze the data.Results As predicted by relevant softwares,the miRNA-29a regulate the expression of VEGFA,NFATC3 and TSC22D3 genes.After BCG infection,the expression of miRNA-29a increased to 1.33 fold(P <0.05), and the expression levels of VEGFA, NFATC3 and TSC22D3 were increased to 5.34,99.25 and 2.12 fold,respectively(P<0.01).In the miRNA-29a over-expressing U937 macrophages,the expression levels of VEGFA,NFATC3 and TSC22D3 were up-regulated to 1.35,1.29 and 3.38 fold,respectively(P<0.05 or <0.01).While in the U937 macrophages with miRNA-29a knock-down,the expression levels of VEGFA, NFATC3 and TSC22D3 were down-regulated to 0.07, 0.08 and 0.55 fold, respectively(P <0.01).Conclusion The results suggest that Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection can increase the expression of miRNA-29a in U937 macrophages,further targeting the regulation of VEGFA, NFATC3 and TSC22D3 gene expression, which may participate in the pathogenesis and development of tuberculosis.