Serum Expression Level of MicroRNA-122 and Its Significance in Patients with Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Abstract

Objectives. To analyze the expression of miR-122 and evaluate its significance in patients with HBV infection in different phases. Methods. Eleven chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 26 hepatitis B virus (HBV)-induced cirrhosis, 16 HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and 10 healthy control cases were enrolled. The serum levels of miR-122 were detected by RT-PCR and compared between healthy individuals and CHB at different stages. Results. Compared with healthy control cases, serum miR-122 levels were markedly increased in HBV infection cases (AUC = 0.795, $P=0.002$ ). In the CHB group, miR-122 levels were positively associated with albumin levels ( $P<0.05$ ) but had no significant associations with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ( $P>0.05$ ). In the cirrhosis group, miR-122 expression was remarkably lower in the Child C group in comparison with the Child A group ( $P=0.025$ ). At the same time, miR-122 amounts had a negative correlation with HVPG ( $P<0.05$ ). In the HCC group, miR-122 amounts were negatively associated with alkaline phosphatase (AKP) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) ( $P<0.05$ ). Serum miR-122 amounts in 3 patients who died were lower than the survival group (5.520 ± 0.522 vs. 5.860 ± 1.183, $P>0.05$ ). Conclusion. Serum miR-122 can be leveraged to screen patients with HBV infection. In HBV sufferers, the serum miR-122 expression level is related to liver disease progression, hence making it an underlying molecular biomarker for predicting the development of CHB.