Serum levels of miRNA in patients with hepatitis B virus-associated acute-on-chronic liver failure

• Published in: Hepatobiliary & pancreatic diseases international 2018-04, Vol.17 (2), p.126-132
• Main Authors: Wen, Ya, Peng, Shi-Fang, Fu, Lei, Fu, Xiao-Yu, Wu, Da-Xian, Liu, Bing-Jie, Tan, De-Ming, Ouyang, Yi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute-on-chronic liver failure; Hepatitis B virus; MicroRNA; Prognosis
• ISSN: 1499-3872
• DOI: 10.1016/j.hbpd.2018.03.004

Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) is a life-threatening condition and its exact pathophysiology and progression remain unclear. The present study aimed to assess the role of serum miRNAs in the evaluation of HBV-ACLF and to develop a model to predict the outcomes for ACLF. Serum was collected from 41 chronic hepatitis B and 55 HBV-ACLF patients in addition to 30 chronic asymptomatic HBV carriers as controls. The miRNAs expressions were measured by real-time quantitative PCR (q-PCR). Statistical analyses were conducted to assess the ability of differentially expressed miRNAs and other prognostic factors in identifying ACLF prognosis and to develop a new predictive model. Real-time q-PCR indicated that serum miR-146a-5p, miR-122-3p and miR-328-3p levels were significantly upregulated in ACLF patients compared to chronic hepatitis B and chronic asymptomatic HBV carriers patients. In addition, multivariate regression analyses indicated that Na+, INR, gastrointestinal bleeding and miR-122-3p are all independent factors that are reliable and sensitive to the prognosis of HBV-ACLF. Therefore, we developed a new model for the prediction of HBV-ACLF disease state: Y = 0.402 × Na+ − 1.72 × INR − 4.963 × gastrointestinal bleeding (Yes = 0; No = 1)−0.278 × (miR-122-3p) + 50.449. The predictive accuracy of the model was 95.3% and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was 0.847. Expression levels of these miRNAs (miR-146a-5p, miR-122-3p and miR-328-3p) positively correlate with the severity of liver inflammation in patients with ACLF and may be useful to predict HBV-ACLF severity.